Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-16
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Executive Summary
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To carry out its mandate, the committee established nine panels with more than 100 distinguished members of the astronomical community. Broad input was sought through the panels, in forums held by the American Astronomical Society, and in meetings with representatives of the international astronomical community.
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These scientific themes, all of which now appear to offer particular promise for immediate progress, are only part of the much larger tapestry that is modern astronomy and astrophysics. For example, scientists cannot hope to understand the formation of black holes without understanding the late stages of stellar evolution, and the full significance of observations of the galaxies in the very early universe will not be clear until it is clear how these galaxies have evolved since that time.
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· The committee reaffirms the recommendations of the 1991 Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee (NRC, 1991) by endorsing the completion of the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)
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The committee recommends that total project budgets provide for grants for data analysis and associated theory at the rate of 3 percent of the capital cost per year for major facilities and 5 percent per year for moderate ones. On the basis of this model, the committee has included funds for operations, instrumentation, and grants for a period of 5 years in the cost estimates provided in this report for most ground-based initiatives.
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and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) currently serve as effective national organizations for radio astronomy and the National Solar Observatory (NSO)
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COORDINATING PROGRAMS AMONG FEDERAL AGENCIES Because of the enormous scale of contemporary astronomical projects and the need for investigations that cross wavelength and discipline boundaries, cooperation among the federal agencies that support astronomical research often has benefits. To determine when interagency collaboration would be fruitful, each agency should have in place a strategic plan for astronomy and astrophysics and should also have cross-disciplinary committees (such as DOE and NSF's Scientific Assessment Group for Experiments in Non-Accelerator Physics 7
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International collaboration plays a crucial role in a number of this committee's recommended initiatives, including the Next Generation Space Telescope, the Expanded Very Large Array, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, the Advanced Solar Telescope, and the Square Kilometer Array technology development, and it could play a significant role in other recommended initiatives as well. N EW I NVE5TM ENT5 I N A5TRO N O MY AN D A5TRO PHY5 I C 5 Many mysteries confront us in the quest to understand our place in the universe.
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The committee set the priorities primarily on the basis of scientific merit, but it also considered technical readiness, cost-effectiveness, impact on education and public outreach, and the relation to other projects. The initiatives were divided into three categories major, moderate, end smell that were defined separately for ground- and space-based projects based on estimated cost (see Chapter 13.
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6 11 Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)
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The addition of eight new antennas will provide an order-of-magnitude increase in angular resolution. With resolution comparable to that of ALMA and NGST, but operating at much longer wavelengths, the EVLA will be a powerful complement to these instruments for studying the formation of protoplanetary disks and the earliest stages of galaxy formation.
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is the most ambitious science mission ever attempted by NASA. It is currently envisaged as a free-flying infrared interferometer designed to study terrestrial planets around nearby stars to find them, characterize their atmospheres, and search for evidence of life and to obtain images of star-forming regions and distant galaxies with unprecedented resolution.
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The committee's second-priority space-based project is the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) , which will be able to detect gravity waves from merging supermassive black holes throughout the visible universe and from close binary stars throughout our galaxy.
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For the recommended space-based initiatives, technology investment as specified in the existing NASA technology road map is an assumed prerequisite for the cost estimates given in Table ES.
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· Establish more pilot partnerships between departments of astronomy and education at a few universities to develop exemplary science courses for preservice teachers. · Improve communication, planning, and coordination among federal programs that fund educational initiatives in astronomy.
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could facilitate such interagency collaborations. 3.6 Collaborating with International Partners International collaboration enables projects that are too costly for the U.S.
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