The Space Science Decadal Surveys Lessons Learned and Best Practices (2015) / Chapter Skim
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3 The Decadal Survey's Recommended Program
3 The Decadal Survey's Recommended Program
Pages 54-73
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From page 54... ...
, o facilities, and observing systems, as well as agency programs that support research and analysis -- including data archiving and analysis tools, technology innovation and development, education, laboratory measurements, public outreach, and workforce development. The extent to which the existing program is reviewed, including any unrealized recommendations from prior decadal surveys, has varied in prior decadal surveys.
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From page 55... ...
, the recommended programs from Planetary20038 had only partially been realized, and NASA's Planetary Science Division was in the middle of a New Frontiers selection process. While the missions from the prior decadal survey that had not been started were included in panel discussions, they were not evaluated in the same way as new mission concepts, and not all were recommended as priority missions for the coming decade.
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From page 56... ...
Decadal survey committees may choose to look at the cost-effective science return of existing missions and facilities and make evaluations based on their relevance and importance to the new proposed program, with the aim of increasing available resources for the next decade. Best Practice: It is desirable that the statement of task explicitly address the extent to which existing programs or projects are to be reviewed and recommendations from prior decadal surveys are to be revisited.
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From page 57... ...
Such advice and recommendations are clearly laid out in separate sections within the decadal survey report. Programmatic Advice to NSF The principal recommendations to NSF AST from the astronomy and astrophysics decadal surveys have been for facilities and infrastructure to accomplish those science objectives that require observations with ground-based facilities -- for example, optical and radio telescopes and detection of cosmic rays and neutrinos coming from space.
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From page 58... ...
Balance Within the Recommended Program Decadal surveys also attempt to establish an optimal balance of programs and activities. First and foremost, a discipline strives to achieve balance among its different scientific areas so that even if one or more of the subdisciplines has gained priority through the survey process, the others are able to continue to do important science, maintain technical expertise, and, most importantly, attract good students.
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From page 59... ...
Best Practice: It is highly desirable that the decadal survey report includes clear discussions on how the decadal survey committee determined the optimal balance of programs and activities for the coming decade. Interagency Issues The primary role of the decadal surveys is to identify priority science goals and objectives and to provide an optimal implementation strategy that can be executed by one or more federal agencies.
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From page 60... ...
, Chandra X Ray Observatory, and Hubble Space Telescope and its five servicing missions. Decadal surveys pay attention to both the peak expenditures during development and the integrated cost (including operations)
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From page 61... ...
This facility is the 13 As highlighted in the Earth science midterm assessment, mission implementation teams tended to have a narrower focus on discipline priorities, in contrast to the decadal survey committee's broader emphasis on Earth system science, leading to mission creep and cost growth (NRC, Earth Science and Applications from Space, 2012)
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From page 62... ...
This resulted in significant increases in cost and major launch delays, which led to further cost escalation.1 Ultimately JWST was determined to be an agency-wide priority mission, and the funding was moved out of the As trophysics Division into its own funding line within the Science Mission Directorate. FIGURE 3.1.1 Major structural components of the James Webb Space Telescope being prepared for a cryogenic test.
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From page 63... ...
For example, changes to the survey-recommended ICESat-2 mission were, in part, the result of pressures from a disci plinary community whose desires for a more advanced and capable mission than envisioned by the survey were not restrained by consideration of the budgetary impact on development of future missions serving different communities."2 Changes in mission science emphasis led to technology development challenges, significant mission cost growth, and launch delay.3 FIGURE 3.2.1 The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) is the second generation of the laser altimeter ICESat mission and is scheduled for launch in July 2016.
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From page 64... ...
The decision rules further required that high-profile missions be de-scoped or delayed rather than negatively impact the other aspects of the planetary science portfolio. Following these rules -- despite much lower-than-anticipated funding levels for the Planetary Science Division, the Mars community was able to develop a credible Mars 2020 mission that addressed most of the key goals of the decadal survey, while minimizing impact on the rest of the program.
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From page 65... ...
In summary, high-profile missions remain a vital part of most decadal programs, but their execution within a containable budget remains a challenge, one that decadal surveys must address throughtfully and thoroughly. Smaller-scale competed missions, such as the Explorer and Discovery programs, are also key to accomplishing a decadal survey's science goals and objectives, so it is imperative that survey committees consider both the benefits and risks of recommending high-profile missions in their deliberative process.
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From page 66... ...
16,17,18 Such issues present major challenges for decadal surveys, particularly for high-profile missions, where joint participation is often required to meet decadal budget requirements. As such, sponsoring agencies may wish to provide specific instructions to survey committees on how they deal with such missions.
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From page 67... ...
. NASA-ESA collaborations on astrophysics missions include the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Herschel, Planck, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST, also with Canadian Space Agency [CSA]
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From page 68... ...
, • Laboratory-based experimentation and sample curation, • Data management and archiving facilities, such as the Planetary Data System, • Education and engagement/public outreach, and • Workforce development activities. t=0h t = 0.6 h t = 1.4 h t = 2.8 h FIGURE 3.5.1 Theory and modeling are an important component of the scientific enterprise.
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From page 69... ...
Rockets and Launch Infrastructure Launch costs continue to be a significant and uncertain cost driver for NASA SMD missions. In noting the influence of escalating launch costs on the scope of missions that can be performed within a specific cost category, decadal surveys are able to review the current status of launch vehicle options and provide recommendations as 19 Formore information about ROSES see, for example, NSPIRES, NASA Research Announcement "Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES)
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From page 70... ...
Through the excitement of the recommended science program, and success in communicating it to the public, decadal surveys open doors to the future. COMMUNICATION OF THE RECOMMENDED PROGRAM Most of the time and energy of the survey committee and panels is spent developing priority science goals and objectives and then tracing these into a recommended program of activities.
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From page 71... ...
Communication by the decadal survey committee leadership and members with science community groups and at science and society meetings promotes broad community buy-in. Best Practice: Community acceptance and buy-in on decadal survey recommendations requires careful documentation and communication by the survey committee of their decision-making process for develop ing science goals and objectives and tracing these into a recommended program of activities for the decade.
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From page 72... ...
Is the recommend mission a reference mission subject to further post-survey development, or is the recommendation for a specific implementation architecture, likely one that has a history in the discipline? For example, planetary science decadal surveys often recommend a specific mission architecture that represents years of careful consideration by the community.
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From page 73... ...
It is unavoidable that the committee's description -- in the survey report -- of the disposition, emphasis, and specifics of each prioritized activity will differ from what has been written in the panel reports. The survey committee's decadal report is the "document of record" but, not infrequently, panel reports have been quoted for their more detailed or somewhat different descriptions or evaluations of elements of the program, including those that have been incorporated into the survey program, but also those that have not.
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