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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
Space Studies Board
Annual Report—1994
1
Charter and Organization of the Board
The National Academy of Sciences was chartered by the Congress, under the
leadership of President Abraham Lincoln, to provide scientific and technical advice to the
government of the United States. Over the years, the advisory program of the institution has
expanded, leading in the course of time to the establishment of the National Academy of
Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, and of the National Research Council (NRC),
today's operational arm of the Academies of Sciences and Engineering.
After the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the pace and scope of U.S. space activity were
dramatically increased. Congress created the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) to conduct the nation's ambitious space agenda, and the National
Academy of Sciences created the Space Science Board. The original charter of the Board
was established in June 1958, three months before final legislation creating NASA was
enacted. The Space Science Board has provided external and independent scientific and
REPORT MENU
programmatic advice to NASA on a continuous basis from NASA's inception until the
NOTICE
present.
FROM THE CHAIR
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
The fundamental charter of the Board today remains that defined by National
CHAPTER 3
Academy of Sciences President Detlev W. Bronk in a letter to Lloyd V. Berkner, first chair of
CHAPTER 4
the Board, on June 26, 1958:
CHAPTER 5
APPENDIX A.1
We have talked of the main task of the Board in three parts—the immediate program, the long-range
APPENDIX A.2
program, and the international aspects of both. In all three we shall look to the Board to be the focus of the
APPENDIX A.3
interests and responsibilities of the Academy-Research Council in space science; to establish necessary
relationships with civilian science and with governmental science activities, particularly the proposed new space
agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency; to represent the
Academy-Research Council complex in our international relations in this field on behalf of American science
and scientists; to seek ways to stimulate needed research; to promote necessary coordination of scientific
effort; and to provide such advice and recommendations to appropriate individuals and agencies with regard to
space science as may in the Board's judgment be desirable.
As we have already agreed, the Board is intended to be an advisory, consultative, correlating,
evaluating body and not an operating agency in the field of space science. It should avoid responsibility as a
Board for the conduct of any programs of space research and for the formulation of budgets relative thereto.
Advice to agencies properly responsible for these matters, on the other hand, would be within its purview to
provide.
Thus, the Board exists to provide advice to the federal government on space
research, and to help coordinate the nation's undertakings in these areas. With the
reconstitution of the Board in 1988 and 1989, the Board assumed similar responsibilities with
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
respect to space applications. The Board also addresses scientific aspects of the nation's
program of human spaceflight.
THE 1988 REORGANIZATION OF
THE BOARD—THE SPACE STUDIES BOARD
In 1988, the Space Science Board undertook a series of retreats to review its
structure and charter. These retreats were motivated by the Board's desire to more closely
align its structure and activities with evolving government advisory needs and by its
assumption of a major portion of the responsibilities of the disestablished NRC Space
Applications Board. As a result of these retreats, a number of new task groups and
committees were formed, and several existing committees were disbanded and their
portfolios distributed to other committees. In addition, since civilian space research now
involves federal agencies other than NASA (for example, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Departments of Energy and Defense, and the
National Science Foundation (NSF)), it was decided to place an increased emphasis on
broadening the Board's advisory outreach.
MAJOR FUNCTIONS
The Board's overall advisory charter is implemented through four key functions:
discipline oversight, interdisciplinary studies, international activities, and advisory outreach.
Oversight of Space Research Disciplines
The Board has responsibility for strategic planning and oversight in the basic
subdisciplines of space research. This responsibility is discharged through a structure of
standing discipline committees, and includes preparation of strategic research plans and
prioritization of objectives as well as assessment of progress in these disciplines. The
standard vehicle for providing long-term research guidance is the research strategy report,
which has been used successfully by the Board and its committees over many years. In
addition, committees periodically prepare formal assessment reports that examine progress
in their disciplines in comparison with published Board advice. From time to time, in
response to a sponsor or Board request or to circumstances requiring prompt and focused
comment, a committee may prepare and submit a brief report. Agency requests for broader
space policy or organizational advice are addressed by suitable ad hoc organizational
arrangements and appropriate final documentation. Other special agency requests that
require responses synchronized with the federal budget cycle are relayed to standing
committees for action or are taken up by ad hoc task groups. All committee reports undergo
Board and NRC review and approval prior to publication and are issued formally as reports
of the Board.
Individual discipline committees may be called upon by the Board to prepare
specialized material for use by either the Board or its interdisciplinary committees or task
groups.
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
Interdisciplinary Studies
Although the emphasis over the years has been on discipline planning and
evaluation, the reorganization of the Board recognized a need for cross-cutting technical and
policy studies in several important areas. To accomplish these objectives, the Board creates
internal committees of the Board and ad hoc task groups. Internal committees, constituted
entirely of appointed Board members, are formed for short-duration studies, or lay the
planning groundwork for subsequent formation of a regular committee or task group. Task
groups resemble standing discipline committees in structure and operation, except that they
have predefined lifetimes, typically two to three years, and more narrowly bounded charters.
International Representation and Cooperation
The Board continues to serve as the U.S. National Committee for the International
Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). In this
capacity, the Board participates in a broad variety of COSPAR panels and committees.
In the past, COSPAR bylaws have provided that its two vice presidents be from the
United States and the U.S.S.R., respectively. The U.S. Vice President of COSPAR has
served as a member of the Board, and a member of the Board's staff has served as
executive secretary for this office. During 1994, governance of COSPAR evolved to fully
democratic election of officers. The Board continues as the U.S. National Committee, but its
representation within the COSPAR officer corps is now determined electorally.
As the economic and political integration of Europe evolves, so also does the
integration of Europe's space activities. The Board has successfully collaborated with the
European space research community on a number of ad hoc joint studies in the past and is
now seeking in a measured way to broaden its advisory relationship with this community.
The Board has established a regular practice of exchanging observers with the European
Space Science Committee (ESSC), an entity of the European Science Foundation.
Strengthening contacts with the Russian and Japanese programs is expected to assume
higher priority as contacts with European research mature.
Advisory Outreach
The Space Science Board was conceived to provide space research guidance
across the federal government. Over the years, the Board's agenda and funding have
focused on NASA's space science program. Since the Board's reorganization, however,
several influences have acted to expand the breadth of the Board's purview, both within
NASA and outside it.
First, the incorporation of scientific objectives into manned flight programs such as
the shuttle and space station programs dictate additional interfaces with responsible offices
in NASA. The Board is strengthening its links to the Office of Space Access and Technology
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
in NASA through joint activities with the NRC's Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
Formal contacts may be made with NASA's space operations, international affairs, and
commercial offices and programs.
Second, the assumption of the space applications responsibilities from the dissolved
NRC Space Applications Board has implied a broadening of the sponsorship base to NOAA,
with its responsibilities for operational weather satellites. In response, NOAA became a
cosponsor of the Board's Committee on Earth Studies in 1991 and is expected to continue
this advisory relationship to the Board in 1995.
Third, the maturation of some of the physical sciences has led to progressive
integration of space and nonspace elements, suggesting a more highly integrated advisory
structure. One example is the solar-terrestrial community, where the Board's Committee on
Solar and Space Physics has operated for several years in a "federated" arrangement with
the NRC Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research. Another example is astronomy, where
the Board operates a Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics as a joint committee of the
Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy. An area of possible future
disciplinary association is between the National Institutes of Health and space biology
research.
With the end of the Cold War, new participants will become involved in areas of
space research previously exclusively civilian. In 1993, the Board established partial support
for the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration by the Strategic Defense Initiative
Organization and performed an initial assessment of the Clementine mission to the Moon
and an asteroid. This convergence, which is also taking place in other areas of the federal
R&D establishment, is coming about partly because of shared technology interests and
partly because of declassification of some defense technologies in response to the changing
world geopolitical environment. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) has
considered several space missions of potential scientific interest, including a large-aperture
infrared telescope. As a result, the Board continued its sponsorship and advisory relationship
with the BMDO by initiating a scientific assessment of this telescope proposal.
In summary, the Board will continue to reach out to nonresearch NASA offices and to
other federal agencies, seeking to establish advisory and corresponding sponsorship
relationships as appropriate.
ORGANIZATION
The Board conducts its business principally during regularly scheduled meetings of
its own membership and of its supporting committees. These include the internal committees
of the Board, standing discipline committees, and ad hoc task groups (see chart). During
1995, the Board will also be managing a major policy study entitled "The Future of Space
Science"; this project will be executed by a network of ad hoc task groups and an
augmented Joint Committee on Technology. The organization of the Board and its panels is
illustrated in the figure.
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
The Space Studies Board
The Space Studies Board is composed of 18 to 24 prominent scientists, engineers,
industrialists, and scholars active in space research or science policy, appointed for
staggered terms of one to three years. The Board meets three or four times per year to
review the activities of its committees and task groups and to be briefed on and discuss
major space policy issues. The Board is constituted in such a way as to include as members
its committees' chairs; other Board members serve on internal committees of the Board or
perform other special functions as designated by the Board Chair. The Board seats, as ex
officio members, the chairs of the NRC Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and of the
NRC Naval Studies Board's Space Panel.
In general, the Board develops and documents its views by means of appointed
discipline committees or interdisciplinary task groups that conduct studies and submit their
findings for Board and NRC approval and dissemination. These committees or task groups
may collaborate with other NRC boards or committees in order to leverage existing
specialized capabilities within the NRC organization. On occasion, the Board itself
deliberates major issues and prepares its own statements and positions. These mechanisms
are used to prepare and release advice either in response to a government request or on the
Board's own initiative. In addition, the Board comments, based on its publicly established
opinions, in testimony to Congress.
Internal Committees of the Board
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
Internal committees facilitate the conduct of the Board's business, carry out the
Board's own advisory projects, and permit the Board to move rapidly to lay the groundwork
for new study activities. Internal committees are composed entirely of Board members.
Current internal committees include the Executive Committee of the Board (XCOM) and the
Committee on International Programs (CIP). The Joint Committee on Technology (JCT) has
been temporarily expanded with non-Board members to help carry out a special study,
described further below. The Committee on Human Exploration (CHEX), previously a regular
standing committee of the Board, has returned to internal committee status pending further
maturation of national human spaceflight goals.
Members of internal committees generally serve for one to two years and then are
rotated for replacement by other Board members. The functions of the internal committees of
the Board are described more fully in the next section.
Discipline Committees
The standing discipline committees form the traditional backbone of the Board and
are the means by which the Board conducts its oversight of space research disciplines. Each
discipline committee is composed of 10 to 16 specialists, appointed to represent the broad
sweep of research areas within the discipline. In addition to developing long-range research
strategies and formal program and progress assessments in terms of these strategies, these
committees perform analysis tasks in support of interdisciplinary task groups and
committees, or in response to other requirements as assigned by the Board. In 1994, there
were six discipline committees:
Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA)
Committee on Earth Studies (CES)
Committee on Microgravity Research (CMGR)
Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX)
Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP)
Committee on Space Biology and Medicine (CSBM)
Activities of the former Committee on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics were
terminated in 1989 when the Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee began its work.
The new Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA) was established in 1992 and
tasked with resuming oversight of NASA's space astronomy program. The CAA is operated
jointly with the NRC Board on Physics and Astronomy, for which it performs oversight of
ground-based research programs under sponsorship from the NSF.
The CSSP operates in a "federated" arrangement with another NRC committee, the
Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Research of the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and
Climate. While the two committees retain their separate identities and reporting relationships
to their parent boards, they meet and conduct studies jointly, submitting the results to
whichever of the respective boards sponsored their activity.
Project on the Future of Space Science
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
Under various pressures, the nation's civil space research program conducted by
NASA for 35 years is undergoing sweeping change. Space science has in many areas
successfully completed its initial reconnaissance phase. At the same time, the national
imperative to control the deficit has dimmed prospects for future funding growth. In March
1993, a reorganization of NASA eliminated the Office of Space Science and Applications
(OSSA), which had theretofore performed agency-wide science mission and program
planning. In response to the likelihood of constrained future budgets and the consequent
need for careful selection and efficient execution of space science missions, the Senate
Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies provided, under the title "Future of
Space Science" (FOSS), that the National Academy of Sciences undertake studies in
several germane areas.
Responding to a subsequent request by NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, the
Space Studies Board is undertaking this assessment of the role and position of space
science within NASA. This assessment will focus on specific areas identified in the
Administrator's request and in the earlier FY94 Senate appropriations report language.
These areas are the organization of civil space research programs within the agency, merit-
based cross-disciplinary prioritization, including preservation of innovative initiatives, and
improvement of technology utilization in science missions.
The adopted approach to carrying out the requested study has been to use the
Space Studies Board's in-place advisory structure wherever possible. The Board formed a
FOSS Steering Group, two new task groups, and adapted its existing Joint Committee on
Technology (JCT) for the project. The chairs of the FOSS steering group and supporting task
groups were appointed to the Board. Some current Board members serve as liaison
members of the Steering Group and task groups. In addition, the Board's six standing space
research discipline committees will also be tasked to support the study.
The following four topics are explicitly specified in the legislative report and the
Administrator's request:
Alternative organizational models for space science,
Analysis of merit-based prioritization,
Improvements in technology insertion, and
Enabling innovative research.
The second and fourth topics are very closely related: a merit-based prioritization
scheme must make special provisions for support of unproven research areas if fostering
and preserving such research is to be an outcome of the science selection process. Based
on analysis of the Senate language and the NASA Administrator's request, the Board has
established a four-component study organization:
Steering Group (FOSS-SG),
Task Group on Alternative Organizations (FOSS-AO),
Task Group on Research Prioritization (FOSS-RP), and
Task Group on Technology (FOSS-T) (JCT).
The distribution of study tasks among these FOSS panels is described in the
"Program" section below.
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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1994 (Charter and Organization)
Task Groups
Ad hoc task groups are created by Board action with NRC approval.
Formed during the 1988 reorganization of the Board, the Task Group on Priorities in
Space Research has completed its study and been dissolved. Release of its final report is
expected in 1995.
In 1993, working through the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Board
established a Task Group on SIRTF and SOFIA to assess rescopings of these programs.
This task group completed its report in 1994 and was disbanded. The committee
subsequently established a Panel on Optical and Infrared Astronomy, which examined
management issues in ground-based astronomy for the Board on Physics and Astronomy
under sponsorship of the NSF. This report was completed and released early in 1995.
In mid-1994, the Space Studies Board formed the Task Group on the BMDO New
Technology Orbital Observatory (TGBNTOO) in response to a request by the BMDO. Its
report will be completed and issued in mid-1995.
During the final months of 1994, the NRC received a request from NASA
Administrator Goldin to perform an assessment of the scientific merit and technical feasibility
of the Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission. Working with the Board on Physics and Astronomy,
the Space Studies Board established a Task Group on GP-B to conduct the required study.
The final report will be completed in May 1995.
New task groups may be created in 1995 to carry out studies on research and
analysis issues, on topics in mission quality assurance and reliability, and on international
collaboration in space research.
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