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Extending Science NASA's Space Science Mission Extensions and the Senior Review Process (2016) / Chapter Skim
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3 Review of Extended Missions by NASA
Pages 36-47

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From page 36...
... The present-day Senior Reviews are derived from those that began in the 1990s within what are now called the Astrophysics Division and the Heliophysics Division. The Planetary Science Division also began conducting Senior Reviews in the 1990s, and the Earth Sciences Division has been conducting them since 2005.
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From page 37...
... Senior Reviews are nominally conducted on a biannual basis, with Astrophysics and Planetary Science reviews occurring in even-numbered years and Earth Science and Heliophysics reviews occurring in odd-numbered years. Although the reviews happen on a regular basis, science missions are subject to different events and timelines, which can affect how recommendations are implemented or when individual reviews take place.
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From page 38...
... This importance leads to a different risk posture for Earth Science missions in comparison to other SMD missions. The other divisions explicitly tolerate higher risk in 2  The Astrophysics Division Senior Reviews are available at NASA Science, "Astrophysics: Documents," http://science.nasa.gov/­ strophysics/ a documents/.
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From page 39...
... The Earth Science Division explicitly takes into account national operational objectives in its Senior Review process. The 2005 National Research Council report Extending the Effective Lifetimes of Earth Observing Research Missions recognized that Earth science missions "have unique considerations, such as future operational utility and interagency partnerships, that distinguish them from space science missions" (NRC, 2005, p.
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From page 40...
... STAKEHOLDERS As part of its assessment process, the committee heard from various Senior Review stakeholders, including the NASA SMD associate administrator and the four division directors, panel chairs from the most recent Senior Reviews in each division, and principal investigators or science team leads for at least one large and one small mission currently in extended phase in each of the divisions. These presenters represent the immediate stakeholders of the Senior Review process -- that is, the NASA Headquarters program executives, the review panels, and the mission teams.
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From page 41...
... Review Teams The review panels represent the community in assessing the NASA portfolio of missions in extended phase. There are trade-offs between the cost and benefit of operating current missions and applying the funding to other areas of NASA science, and the SMD divisions utilize the reports from the Senior Review panels to refine initial allocations of funding among the extended missions as well as for deciding whether to allocate additional funding from elsewhere in the science portfolios.
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From page 42...
... This de facto requirement is then underscored by the competitive environment of the Senior Review process. For example, in the case of the Planetary Science Division, language stating that a criterion of the evaluation is the "potential for groundbreaking science" has been widely interpreted by recent Senior Review panels and proposing mission teams as a requirement for new science and a diminution of continuity science.
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From page 43...
... Recommendation: NASA SMD should assemble Senior Review panels that • Are comprised primarily of senior scientists knowledgeable about and experienced in mission operations so as to ensure that the operational context of the science being proposed and evalu ated is considered in the review (individuals with operations and/or programmatic expertise may also be included as needed) ; • Are assembled early to avoid or accommodate conflicts of interest and ensure availability of appropriate expertise; • Include some continuity of membership from the preceding Senior Review to take advantage of corporate memory; and • Include some early-career members to introduce new and important perspectives and enable them to gain experience for future Senior Reviews.
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From page 44...
... EXTENSION OF EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY SCIENCE MISSIONS NASA is not the only agency that operates long-lasting science missions. ESA also operates a number of Earth science, heliophysics, astrophysics, and planetary science spacecraft.
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From page 45...
... REVIEW OF EXTENDED MISSIONS BY NASA 45 TABLE 3.1  Astrophysics Division Senior Reviews by Year and Missions Reviewed Mission 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 Chandra ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Fermi ˜ ˜ ˜ FUSE ˜ GALEX ˜ ˜ ˜ Gravity Probe B ˜ Hubble ˜ ˜ ˜ INTEGRAL ˜ ˜ ˜ Kepler ˜ ˜ ˜ MaxWISE ˜ NuSTAR ˜ ˜ Planck ˜ ˜ ˜ RXTE ˜ ˜ ˜ Spitzer ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Suzaku ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Swift ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ WISE ˜ WMAP ˜ ˜ ˜ XMM-Newton ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ NOTE: Acronyms defined in Appendix F TABLE 3.2  Earth Science Division Senior Reviews by Year and Missions Reviewed Mission 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 ACRIMSAT ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Aqua ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Aquarius ˜ Aura ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ CALIPSO ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Cloudsat ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ERBE ˜ EO-1 ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ GPS Science ˜ GRACE ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ICESat ˜ ˜ ˜ Jason-1 ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ OSTM ˜ ˜ ˜ QuikSCAT ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ SAGE ˜ SORCE ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Terra ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ TOMS ˜ TRMM ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ UARS ˜ NOTE: Acronyms defined in Appendix F
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From page 46...
... 46 EXTENDING SCIENCE -- NASA'S SPACE SCIENCE MISSION EXTENSIONS AND THE SENIOR REVIEW PROCESS TABLE 3.3  Heliophysics Division Senior Reviews by Year and Missions Reviewed   2005 2008 2010 2013 2015 ACE ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ AIM ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ CINDI ˜ ˜ ˜ Cluster ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ FAST ˜ ˜ Geotail ˜ ˜ Hinode ˜ ˜ ˜ IBEX ˜ ˜ IMAGE ˜ IRIS ˜ Polar ˜ RHESSI ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ SDO ˜ SOHO ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ STEREO ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ THEMIS ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ TIMED ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ TRACE ˜ TWINS ˜ ˜ ˜ Ulysses ˜ Van Allen Probes ˜ Voyager ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Wind ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ NOTE: Acronyms defined in Appendix F TABLE 3.4  Planetary Science Division Senior Reviews by Year and Missions Reviewed   2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2016 Cassini ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Curiosity ˜ ˜ Dawn ˜ Deep Impact ˜ GRAIL ˜ LRO ˜ ˜ MAVEN ˜ MER ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Mars Global Surveyor ˜ Mars Express ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ MRO ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ MESSENGER ˜ ˜ Odyssey ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ Phoenix ˜ New Horizons ˜ Stardust-NExT ˜ NOTE: Acronyms defined in Appendix F
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From page 47...
... Recommendation: NASA's Science Mission Directorate division directors should continue to commu nicate among themselves to identify and incorporate best practices across the divisions into the Senior Review proposal requirements and review processes and procedures. Recommendation: In its guidelines to the proposal teams and the Senior Review panels, NASA should state its intention to solicit feedback from its proposal teams and review panels about the suitability of the proposal content and review process.
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Key Terms

  • senior reviews
  • review panels
  • extended missions
  • earth science
  • mission teams

  • science division
  • science missions
  • planetary science
  • division senior
  • science mission

  • space science
  • recent senior
  • nasa science
  • mission extensions
  • missions reviewed

  • review panel
  • review recommended
  • nasa earth
  • extended phase
  • heliophysics division

  • astrophysics division
  • review proposal
  • nasa headquarters
  • division directors
  • current missions

  • smd divisions
  • data continuity
  • science senior
  • conducting senior
  • esa senior


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