period of galaxy formation. The ESA FIRST mission would complement the capabilities of the NGST by looking at far-infrared and submillimeter wavelengths. FIRST will be able to detect the highly luminous infrared emission associated with the high rates of early star formation in dust-enshrouded galaxies.

NASA participation in the ESA Planck and FIRST missions could be crucial to realizing the full science potential of these missions, which address the top two science priorities in space astronomy identified by the Thaddeus report. The science return to the U.S. science community will be significant and NASA's investment highly leveraged. In particular, NASA has a key role to play in developing enabling technologies and indeed has already made significant contributions to both of these missions by its support of suborbital flight opportunities from which relevant technologies have been developed. Since the technology for both Planck and FIRST is not yet fully developed, a steady, adequate flow of technology funding is likely to be critical to the ultimate success of these missions. The CAA is concerned that the NASA investment should be commensurate with the very high priority science of both these missions. We urge that the NASA investment be used to ensure that the science goals articulated in the Thaddeus report are fully met.

Signed by

Claude R. Canizares

Chair, Space Studies Board

Robert Dynes

Chair, Board on Physics and Astronomy

John Huchra

Co-chair, Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics

Thomas Prince

Co-chair, Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics

Front Matter (R1-R4)

Contents (R5-R6)

1. Charter and Organization of the Board (1-8)

2. Activities and Membership (9-33)

3. Summaries of Major Reports (34-101)

4. Short Reports (102-118)

5. Cumulative Bibliography (119-126)