Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017 (2018) / Chapter Skim
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6 Congressional Testimony
6 Congressional Testimony
Pages 89-104
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From page 89... ...
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony and participate in the discussion surrounding the options for and impacts of microgravity space science after 2024. This is a very important subject and the discussion is timely, due to the rapid evolution and diversification of spaceflight capabilities available to our nation, as well as the functional maturation of the International Space Station.
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From page 90... ...
1. What is the status of space life and physical sciences research and how is this status affected by NASA deep space exploration goals and timetables?
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From page 91... ...
Space life and physical sciences contribute effectively to NASA research and technology needs. While the time between now and 2024 will see tremendous progress in science in support of exploration, NASA's need for exploration related science will neither cease nor be fully met.
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From page 92... ...
Similar to the Decadal Studies that guide the science in the Science Mission Directorate of NASA, the "Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration" Decadal Survey guides SLPSRA as the primary steward of space life and physical sciences. Our exploration of space will constantly pull innovation from this area of science and NASA stewardship of space life and physical sciences must, I believe, be maintained.
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From page 93... ...
Repeatability, quicker access to space, accessible laboratory equipment that parallels ground laboratory equipment, the ability to get samples back to Earth and to the research team, all improve science on the ISS and increase our readiness for deep space science and exploration. Dealing with each of these tactical issues, together with providing a level of strategic funding for the space life and physical sciences, has the potential to demonstrate a possibly dramatic impact on any evaluation of the amount of science to be accomplished on the ISS by 2024.
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From page 94... ...
Outside of the solar system, astronomers have identified numerous exoplanets from the ground using the radial velocity, or Doppler, method. More recently our knowledge of exoplanets has exploded as a result of NASA's successful Kepler Space Telescope mission.
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From page 95... ...
I will not attempt to weigh in on this question. This will be one of the issues discussed by the 2022 planetary science decadal survey, organized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
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From page 96... ...
But there is lots of incentive to study this object further. Progress in learning about ocean worlds has been greatly accelerated by the approval of funds for NASA's Europa Clipper mission.
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From page 97... ...
. But the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
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From page 98... ...
(I was involved in such a study 12 years ago for TPF-C, Terrestrial Planet Finder-Coronagraph, but the project was cancelled after only 6 months.) At the Biosignatures Workshop, Shawn Domagal-Goldman from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center talked about two possible designs for such a telescope.
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From page 99... ...
The views I express today are based on my personal assessment of information and presentations made available to CAPS as it has been monitoring the implementation of the planetary science decadal survey. CAPS is one of five subcommittees of the Academies' Space Studies Board -- each of which is charged to assist the federal government in integrating and planning programs in space sciences by providing advice on the implementation of decadal survey recommendations.
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From page 100... ...
CAPS has heard about these exciting science opportunities through NASA, opportunities such as: the scientific program of the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers that are roaming the martian surface and the 2020 rover that is under development; the Psyche and Lucy missions that will provide context to our understanding of the origin of habitable worlds and the formation of organic-rich planetary bodies, respectively; the development of the Europa Clipper mission and the planning for a potential future landing on the surface of Europa; and of course the inclusion of Ocean Worlds in New Frontiers 4. Indeed in the Vision and Voyages decadal survey, astrobiology was at the heart of the scientific rationale for two of the top large flagship mission recommendations.
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From page 101... ...
No mission to land on Europa was proposed to the survey committee and panels as the decadal was being conducted. It is, however, worth noting that two Europa lander concepts were briefly discussed, but not prioritized, in the 2003 decadal survey for planetary science, "New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy." Today we all know that NASA has been directed to add a lander to the overall Europa exploration program and to launch the Europa Clipper on a Space Launch System (SLS)
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From page 102... ...
The decadal recommended that the third-highest-priority flagship mission was the Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission and that, if the budget allowed, it should be initiated the exploration of the ice giants in the decade 2013-2022 even if both of what are now Mars 2020 and Europa Clipper take place. I note here that NASA takes such recommendations seriously.
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From page 103... ...
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) was the 2010 decadal's highest-ranked large space observatory with science goals that drew on and combined a set of mission concepts proposed by the community into a unified science program that, as the decadal report said, is "designed to settle essential questions in both exoplanet and dark energy research, and will advance topics ranging from galaxy evolution to the study of objects within our own galaxy." The midterm report underscored the continuing scientific case for the pursuit of this mission and its planned implementation with a larger mirror than envisioned at the time of the decadal's prioritization, saying that the 2.4-meter telescope, larger infrared detectors, and addition of a coronagraph make the 2016 design of WFIRST an ambitious and powerful facility.
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From page 104... ...
, scheduled for launch in March 2018. This satellite will use similar techniques to the highly-successful Kepler telescope, but it will observe bright, relatively nearby stars over the whole sky, thus identifying exoplanet targets that are ideal for follow up by the James Webb Space Telescope and other facilities.
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