NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This project was supported jointly by the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant No. NASW-96013. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm.A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I.Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts and Dr. Wm.A.Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
COMMITTEE ON THE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
NORMAN R.AUGUSTINE,
Lockheed Martin (retired),
Chair
LEWIS M.BRANSCOMB,
Harvard University
CLAUDE R.CANIZARES,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SANDRA M.FABER,
University of California, Santa Cruz
ROBERT D.GEHRZ,
University of Minnesota
PHILIP R.GOODE,
New Jersey Institute of Technology
BURTON RICHTER,
Stanford University
ANNEILA I.SARGENT,
California Institute of Technology
FRANK H.SHU,
University of California, Berkeley
MAXINE F.SINGER,
Carnegie Institution of Washington
ROBERT E.WILLIAMS,
Space Telescope Science Institute
JOSEPH K.ALEXANDER, Director,
Space Studies Board
DONALD C.SHAPERO, Director,
Board on Physics and Astronomy
JOEL R.PARRIOTT, Study Director
SUSAN GARBINI, Staff Officer
BRIAN D.DEWHURST, Research Assistant
SÄRAH A.CHOUDHURY, Project Associate
NELSON QUIÑONES, Project Assistant
ELIZABETH YALE, Intern
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
JOHN H.McELROY,
University of Texas at Arlington (retired),
Chair
ROGER P.ANGEL, JR.,
University of Arizona
JAMES P.BAGIAN,
National Center for Patient Safety
JAMES L.BURCH,
Southwest Research Institute
RADFORD BYERLY, JR.,
Boulder, Colorado
ROBERT E.CLELAND,
University of Washington
HOWARD M.EINSPAHR,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute
STEVEN H.FLAJSER,
Loral Space and Communications, Ltd.
MICHAEL FREILICH,
Oregon State University
DON P.GIDDENS,
Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University
RALPH H.JACOBSON,
The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (retired)
CONWAY LEOVY,
University of Washington
JONATHAN I.LUNINE,
University of Arizona
BRUCE D.MARCUS, TRW (retired)
RICHARD A.McCRAY,
University of Colorado
HARRY Y.McSWEEN, JR.,
University of Tennessee
GARY J.OLSEN,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
GEORGE A.PAULIKAS,
The Aerospace Corporation (retired)
ROBERT ROSNER,
University of Chicago
ROBERT J.SERAFIN,
National Center for Atmospheric Research
EUGENE B.SKOLNIKOFF,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MITCHELL SOGIN,
Marine Biological Laboratory
C.MEGAN URRY,
Yale University
PETER W.VOORHEES,
Northwestern University
JOHN A.WOOD,
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
JOSEPH K.ALEXANDER, Director
BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
JOHN HUCHRA,
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
Chair
ROBERT C.RICHARDSON,
Cornell University,
Vice Chair
GORDON A.BAYM,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
WILLIAM BIALEK,
NEC Research Institute
VAL FITCH,
Princeton University
WENDY L.FREEDMAN,
Carnegie Observatories
RICHARD D.HAZELTINE,
University of Texas at Austin
KATHY LEVIN,
University of Chicago
CHUAN LIU,
University of Maryland
JOHN C.MATHER,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
CHERRY ANN MURRAY,
Lucent Technologies
JULIA PHILLIPS,
Sandia National Laboratories
ANNEILA I.SARGENT,
California Institute of Technology
JOSEPH H.TAYLOR, JR.,
Princeton University
KATHLEEN C.TAYLOR,
General Motors Corporation
CARL E.WIEMAN,
University of Colorado/JILA
PETER G.WOLYNES,
University of California, San Diego
DONALD C.SHAPERO, Director
JOEL R.PARRIOTT, Senior Program Officer
ROBERT L.RIEMER, Senior Program Officer
MICHAEL H.MOLONEY, Program Officer
ACHILLES SPELIOTOPOULOS, Program Officer
SÄRAH A.CHOUDHURY, Project Associate
NELSON QUIÑONES, Project Assistant
Preface
In its fiscal year 2002 budget summary document1 the Bush administration proposed funding initiatives and redirections for each department and agency, and it also discussed potential reforms. For the National Science Foundation (NSF), the potential reforms included a directive to “reorganize research in astronomy and astrophysics.” The document (p. 161) added:
Several changes have evolved which suggest that now is the time to assess the federal Government’s management and organization of astronomical research. NSF and NASA will establish a Blue Ribbon Panel to assess the organizational effectiveness of Federal support of astronomical sciences and, specifically, the pros and cons of transferring NSF’s astronomy responsibilities to NASA. The panel may also develop alternative options.
In response to a request from the director of NSF and the administrator of NASA, the National Research Council (NRC) agreed to undertake preparation of the assessment. The NRC chair appointed the Committee on the Organization and Management of Research in Astronomy and
1 |
Executive Office of the President, A Blueprint for New Beginnings: A Responsible Budget for America’s Priorities, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2001. Available online at <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/usbudget/blueprint/budtoc.html>. |
Astrophysics (COMRAA) to carry out the task. Biographies of the members of the committee are given in Appendix A.
The committee was formally charged with the following task, based closely on the language in the 2002 budget summary.
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Assess the organizational effectiveness of federal support of astronomical sciences.
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Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of transferring NSF’s astronomy responsibilities to NASA.
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Consider other options for addressing the management and organizational issues identified by the committee and by recent NRC reports.
COMRAA met in person three times for a total of six days and held one telephone discussion. At its first meeting, held in Washington, D.C., on June 13–14, 2001, it heard from representatives of the White House, the sponsoring agencies, and the House Science Committee. It also heard presentations from one of the co-chairs of the recently published survey of astronomy and astrophysics (Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2001), from professional societies, and from other interested organizations and knowledgeable individuals.
At its second meeting, held in Menlo Park, Calif., on July 12–13, 2001, it discussed national observatories and joint advisory committees and heard further testimony from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. The report was outlined and the committee divided up the task of preparing various sections of its report.
During these first two meetings, the committee heard testimony from about 30 key individuals. Committee members also benefited from many individual discussions with senior researchers, congressional staff members, and former and current agency managers. The NRC created a Web site that invited public comment through an e-mail address created for that purpose. The American Astronomical Society assisted the committee by transmitting a general invitation to its membership to submit statements to the committee by e-mail. The committee received hundreds of thoughtful statements and comments that were carefully reviewed during the first two meetings.
At its final meeting, held in Washington, D.C., on July 31–August 1, 2001, the committee, after much discussion, finalized its findings and recommendations. Detailed agendas of the meetings are listed in Appendix B.
The committee wishes to thank NASA Administrator Daniel S.Goldin and NSF Director Rita Colwell and their staffs for providing data and information to the committee, always under tight schedule constraints.
The committee would also like to express its appreciation for the support and assistance of the NRC staff, including the deadline-paced editorial work of Susan Maurizi. The committee particularly thanks Joel Parriott, who served as study director, and without whose help and guidance the committee could not have completed its task on the fast-paced schedule dictated by the budget cycle.
The recommendations presented in this report have the unanimous endorsement of the members of the committee.
Norman R.Augustine, Chair
Committee on the Organization and Management of Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Robert A.Frosch, Harvard University,
John P.Huchra, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
John C.Mather, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Infrared Astrophysics Branch,
Marcia K.McNutt, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute,
Norine E.Noonan, National Space Science and Technology Center,
Jeremiah P.Ostriker, Princeton University,
John Peoples, Jr., Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory,
Marcia J.Rieke, University of Arizona,
Philip M.Smith, McGeary and Smith, and
Joseph H.Taylor, Jr., Princeton University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Marshall Cohen, California Institute of Technology, and Louis J.Lanzerotti, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.