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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1993 Space Studies Board Annual Report—1993 NOTICE FROM THE CHAIR CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2 (cont.) CHAPTER 3 Space Studies Board CHAPTER 4 Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications National Research Council Notice From the Chair 1. History and Charter of the Board file:///C|/SSB_old_web/an93menu.htm (1 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:34:09 AM]

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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1993 2. Activities and Membership 3. Summaries of Reports 3.1 Scientific Prerequisites for the Human Exploration of Space 3.2 Improving NASA's Technology for Space Science 1. Letter Reports 4.1 On the Space Station and Prerequisites for the Human Exploration Program 4.2 On Several Issues in the Space Life Sciences 4.3 On the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility 2. Cumulative Bibliography National Academy Press, 1994 Last update 8/29/00 at 2:39 pm Site managed by Anne Simmons, Space Studies Board The National Academies Current Projects Publications Directories Search Site Map Feedback file:///C|/SSB_old_web/an93menu.htm (2 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:34:09 AM]

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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1993 (Notice) Space Studies Board Annual Report—1993 Notice The Space Studies Board is a unit of the National Research Council, which serves as an independent advisor to the federal government on scientific and technical questions of national importance. The Research Council, jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine, brings the resources of the entire scientific and technical community to bear through its volunteer advisory committees. Support for the work of the Space Studies Board and its committees and task groups was provided by National Aeronautics and Space Administration contract NASW-4627; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract 50- DGNE-1-00138; and Naval Research Laboratory purchase order N00173-93-P- 6207. REPORT MENU NOTICE FROM THE CHAIR CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2 (cont.) CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 file:///C|/SSB_old_web/an93notice.htm (1 of 2) [6/18/2004 10:34:14 AM]

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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1993 (From the Chair) Space Studies Board Annual Report—1993 From the Chair This 1993 annual report of the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council chronicles the activities of the Board during a year filled with questioning and change in the country's civil space program. The brief accounts contained herein of the activities of the Board and of its committees, together with summaries of two major reports and the complete texts of three letter reports, sketch out major space research issues that faced the nation's space scientists and engineers during the year. In addition to uncertainties facing space scientists involved in robotic missions to explore the Earth, the solar system, and the farthest reaches of the universe, instability persisted in the human flight program. In the spring of 1993, the Clinton administration convened a blue ribbon panel to critically evaluate REPORT MENU several redesign options for the international space station. By the end of the NOTICE FROM THE CHAIR year, the station had assumed an even stronger international cast, as Russia was CHAPTER 1 brought into the program based on both technical and foreign policy CHAPTER 2 considerations. The evolution of the space station, with yet another redesign on CHAPTER 2 (cont.) its curriculum vitae, continued into the year 1994. CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 There continues to be an underlying questioning of the purposes of federally funded research in all fields, particularly "basic" research. For space research, these uncertainties are increased by the confusion about its purpose, or purposes, in a post-Cold War world where the United States no longer needs to express its technological sophistication through a very visible and very open civil space program. Indeed, it has been a most successful program in that the country has sent humans and robotic probes to targets never before visited by any human individual or device. Yes, the space program has had many "spinoffs," but demonstration of national technical prowess was a central driver for the program. At the same time that an intense questioning of the purposes of federal funding of research is in progress, a similar questioning, driven by issues of file:///C|/SSB_old_web/an93chair.htm (1 of 3) [6/18/2004 10:34:19 AM]

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Space Studies Board Annual Report-1993 (From the Chair) profitability and survivability, exists in U.S. industry. All in all, it is not a comforting time for most Americans in R&D, who have been accustomed to feeling like the elite of the work force, of the intelligentsia, and of the technical base of the country. Where is the nation going from here with R&D in the universities, in the national laboratories, in industry? How will the nation apply the talents of its most highly educated and trained? As a start to addressing these and other issues in R&D policy, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) organized, together with the principal federal R&D agencies and the national academies, a "Forum for Science in the National Interest: World Leadership in Basic Science, Mathematics and Engineering Research." The forum, which took place at the beginning of 1994, provided opportunities for members of the research community to hear the views of political leaders on the future of R&D and to confer with them and with other attendees from academia, the national laboratories, and industry. OSTP's intent is to use the resulting discussion session reports and individual position papers to help formulate a long-range vision for federal R&D. Principles and goals for federal R&D funding following the forum are yet to be publicly articulated and disseminated by the OSTP. With the assumption of the responsibilities of the National Space Council by the executive branch's new National Science and Technology Council, however, it is clear that space endeavors, and space science, do not have as high a visibility and budget priority as they previously enjoyed. Adaptation to this changing environment will present major challenges and opportunities for the space research community and the Space Studies Board in the years ahead. As I write these thoughts, my second term as chair of the Space Studies Board is drawing to a close. The last six years of new results in space research have been phenomenal; at the same time, national and international space policy has evolved in ways that I could not have imagined when I began my service on the Board. As I have written previously, the nation needs a new space policy, a policy that can provide guidance and a vision for the future, a policy that can be agreed upon across the political spectrum and by the public at large. If this could be achieved, the space program would flourish. A will to define such a policy is sorely needed. If asked now to state one impression that will remain with me as I leave the Board, I would answer that it is the incredible collective talent of U.S. scientists and engineers that I have encountered during these years. My hope is that the political and industrial leadership of the country will lead in a manner that will encourage and harness this collective talent for the commonweal. file:///C|/SSB_old_web/an93chair.htm (2 of 3) [6/18/2004 10:34:19 AM]