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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
×

Assessment of a Plan for
U.S. Participation in Euclid

Committee on the Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid
Space Studies Board
Board on Physics and Astronomy
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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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.

Support for this project was provided by Contract NNH06CE15B between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the agency that provided support for the project.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

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. Ralph J. Cicerone 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. Charles M. Vest 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. Harvey V. Fineberg 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. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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OTHER RECENT REPORTS OF THE SPACE STUDIES BOARD AND THE BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Collaboration on Space and Earth Science Missions (Space Studies Board [SSB], 2011)

An Assessment of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory [prepublication] (Board on Physics and Astronomy [BPA], 2011)

Panel Reports—New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (BPA and SSB, 2011)

Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era (SSB, 2011)

Report of the Panel on Implementing Recommendations from the New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey [prepublication] (BPA and SSB, 2011)

Sharing the Adventure with the Public—The Value and Excitement of “Grand Questions” of Space Science and Exploration: Summary of a Workshop (SSB, 2011)

Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022 (SSB, 2011)

Capabilities for the Future: An Assessment of NASA Laboratories for Basic Research (Laboratory Assessments Board with SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board [ASEB], 2010)

Controlling Cost Growth of NASA Earth and Space Science Missions (SSB, 2010)

Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth-Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Final Report (SSB with ASEB, 2010)

An Enabling Foundation for NASA’s Space and Earth Science Missions (SSB, 2010)

Forging the Future of Space Science: The Next 50 Years (SSB, 2010)

Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era of Space Exploration: An Interim Report (SSB with ASEB, 2010)

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (BPA and SSB, 2010)

Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences (BPA, 2010)

Revitalizing NASA’s Suborbital Program: Advancing Science, Driving Innovation, and Developing a Workforce (SSB, 2010)

Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve (BPA, 2010)

Spectrum Management for Science in the 21st Century (BPA, 2010)

America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs (SSB with ASEB, 2009)

Approaches to Future Space Cooperation and Competition in a Globalizing World: Summary of a Workshop (SSB with ASEB, 2009)

Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions (SSB, 2009)

Frontiers in Crystalline Matter: From Discovery to Technology (BPA, 2009)

Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Interim Report (SSB with ASEB, 2009)

A Performance Assessment of NASA’s Heliophysics Program (SSB, 2009)

Radioisotope Power Systems: An Imperative for Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Space Exploration (SSB with ASEB, 2009)

Scientific Assessment of High-Power Free-Electron Laser Technology (BPA, 2009)

Limited copies of SSB reports are available free of charge from

Limited copies of BPA reports are available free of charge from

Space Studies Board

Board on Physics and Astronomy

National Research Council

National Research Council

The Keck Center of the National Academies

The Keck Center of the National Academies

500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001

500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001

(202) 334-3477/ssb@nas.edu

(202) 334- 3520/bpa@nas.edu

www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/ssb.html

www.nationalacademies.org/bpa/bpa.html

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
×

COMMITTEE ON THE ASSESSMENT OF A PLAN FOR U.S. PARTICIPATION IN EUCLID

DAVID N. SPERGEL, Princeton University, Chair

CHARLES ALCOCK, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

RACHEL BEAN, Cornell University

CHARLES L. BENNETT, Johns Hopkins University

ROMEEL DAVÉ, University of Arizona

ALAN DRESSLER, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science

DEBRA M. ELMEGREEN, Vassar College

JOSHUA A. FRIEMAN, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

THOMAS A. PRINCE, California Institute of Technology

MARCIA J. RIEKE, University of Arizona

Staff

DAVID LANG, Program Officer, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Co-Study Director

CARYN JOY KNUTSEN, Associate Program Officer, Board on Physics and Astronomy, Co-Study Director

LEWIS B. GROSWALD, Research Associate, Space Studies Board

AMANDA R. THIBAULT, Research Associate, Space Studies Board

CATHERINE A. GRUBER, Editor, Space Studies Board

DIONNA WILLIAMS, Program Associate, Space Studies Board

MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Director, Space Studies Board

DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director, Board on Physics and Astronomy

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
×

SPACE STUDIES BOARD

CHARLES F. KENNEL, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, Chair

JOHN KLINEBERG, Space Systems/Loral (retired), Vice Chair

MARK R. ABBOTT, Oregon State University

STEVEN J. BATTEL, Battel Engineering

YVONNE C. BRILL, Aerospace Consultant

ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ANDREW B. CHRISTENSEN, Dixie State College and Aerospace Corporation

ALAN DRESSLER, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution

JACK D. FELLOWS, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

HEIDI B. HAMMEL, Space Science Institute

FIONA A. HARRISON, California Institute of Technology

ANTHONY C. JANETOS, University of Maryland

JOAN JOHNSON-FREESE, Naval War College

ROBERT P. LIN, University of California, Berkeley

MOLLY K. MACAULEY, Resources for the Future

JOHN F. MUSTARD, Brown University

ROBERT T. PAPPALARDO, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

JAMES PAWELCZYK, Pennsylvania State University

MARCIA J. RIEKE, University of Arizona

DAVID N. SPERGEL, Princeton University

WARREN M. WASHINGTON, National Center for Atmospheric Research

CLIFFORD M. WILL, Washington University

THOMAS H. ZURBUCHEN, University of Michigan

MICHAEL H. MOLONEY, Director

CARMELA J. CHAMBERLAIN, Administrative Coordinator

TANJA PILZAK, Manager, Program Operations

CELESTE A. NAYLOR, Information Management Associate

CHRISTINA O. SHIPMAN, Financial Officer

SANDRA WILSON, Financial Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
×

BOARD ON PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY

ADAM S. BURROWS, Princeton University, Chair

PHILIP H. BUCKSBAUM, Stanford University, Vice Chair

RICCARDO BETTI, University of Rochester

JAMES DRAKE, University of Maryland

JAMES EISENSTEIN, California Institute of Technology

DEBRA M. ELMEGREEN, Vassar College

PAUL FLEURY, Yale University

STUART FREEDMAN, University of California, Berkeley

LAURA H. GREENE, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

MARTHA P. HAYNES, Cornell University

JOSEPH HEZIR, EOP Group, Inc.

MARK B. KETCHEN, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

JOSEPH LYKKEN, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

HOMER A. NEAL, University of Michigan

MONICA OLVERA de la CRUZ, Northwestern University

PAUL SCHECHTER, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

BORIS SHRAIMAN, Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics

MICHAEL S. TURNER, University of Chicago

DONALD C. SHAPERO, Director

JAMES LANCASTER, Associate Director

DAVID LANG, Program Officer

CARYN JOY KNUTSEN, Associate Program Officer

TERI THOROWGOOD, Administrative Coordinator

BETH DOLAN, Financial Associate

Page viii Cite
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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Preface

The formation of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Committee on the Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid was requested by NASA at the November 9, 2011, meeting of the NRC’s Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy. The committee was tasked to:

Determine whether a proposed NASA plan for a U.S. hardware contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) Euclid mission, in exchange for U.S. membership on the Euclid Science Team and science data access, is a viable part of an overall strategy to pursue the science goals (dark energy measurements, exoplanet detection, and infrared survey science) of the New Worlds, New Horizons report’s top-ranked, large-scale, space-based priority: the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).

Owing to the mid-February deadline for NASA’s preliminary confirmation to the European Space Agency (ESA) of its interest in participating in the Euclid mission—with a view to a formal exchange of agreements in the Spring following interagency negotiations between NASA and ESA and the completion of the necessary U.S. interagency process to secure the U.S. government’s approval of the resulting agreement—the committee was assembled on an expedited schedule. The committee held its first and only meeting in Washington, D.C., on January 18-20, 2012, with the intention of completing and releasing its report by the end of January. The assembled committee comprised former members of the Committee for the Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics and other individuals with relevant scientific expertise, including some who served on the survey’s relevant panels.

It was clear to the committee from the early stages of this study that it would be impossible to fulfill the task in determining whether a hardware contribution to Euclid is a viable part of an overall strategy to pursue the science goals of WFIRST without discussing both Euclid and WFIRST in detail. That realization was the core thrust behind how the agenda for its meeting was assembled. At that meeting the committee heard from experts and stakeholders from both Europe and the United States. On short notice, these individuals graciously agreed to attend (either in person or remotely) and (1) made presentations in response to questions prepared in advance by the committee, (2) answered additional questions from the committee members, and (3) provided their own candid observations on relevant matters. In its deliberations, the committee made use not only of the testimony of these experts (see Appendix C), but also of the decadal survey report, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (NWNH), itself. The committee was also keenly aware that it was not charged to consider any alterations to the NWNH science priorities. The committee understood that the survey committee was aware of Euclid’s development and its science goals and that NWNH did not recommend Euclid as sufficient to satisfy the survey’s science priorities. The committee also understood that it was not charged to make recommendations to the European Space Agency. Neither was it charged to make any recommendations on the current NASA planning for the WFIRST mission.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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On a personal note I would like to thank my colleagues on the committee who agreed on short notice to participate in this expedited process. This commitment required in some cases considerable disruption not only to their schedules on the days of the meeting but also in the days that followed as we assembled this report. I would also like to thank the staff of the Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy, most notably David Lang, Caryn Knutsen, and Dionna Williams, whose out-of-hours attention to this report made meeting the deadline possible.


David N. Spergel, Chair
Committee on the Assessment of a Plan for U.S.
Participation in Euclid

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
×

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 Report Review Committee of the National Research Council (NRC). 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:

David Bennett, University of Notre Dame,

Roger Blandford, Stanford University,

Adam Burrows, Princeton University,

James Green, University of Colorado,

Charlie Kennel, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego,

Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr., University of Cambridge, U.K.,

Paddy Leahy, University of Manchester, U.K.,

Adam Riess, Space Telescope Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University,

Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago, and

C. Megan Urry, Yale 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 Martha P. Haynes, Cornell University. Appointed by the NRC, she was 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.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13357.
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NASA proposed to make a hardware contribution to the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Euclid mission in exchange for U.S. membership on the Euclid Science Team and science data access. The Euclid mission will employ a space telescope that will make potentially important contributions to probing dark energy and to the measurement of cosmological parameters. Euclid will image a large fraction of the extragalactic sky at unprecedented resolution and measure spectra for millions of galaxies.

Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid evaluates whether a small investment in Euclid (around $20 million in hardware) is a viable part of an overall strategy to pursue the science goals set forth in New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics, a decadal plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics. The top-ranked large-scale, space-based priority of the New Worlds, New Horizons is the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST). WFIRST has a broad, wide-field, near-infrared capability that will serve a wide variety of science programs of U.S. astronomers, including exoplanet research, near-infrared sky surveys, a guest observer program, and dark energy research. In carrying out this study the authoring committee's intent has been to be clear that this report does not alter New Worlds, New Horizon's plans for the implementation of the survey's priorities.

Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid concludes that the NASA proposal would represent a valuable first step toward meeting one of the science goals (furthering dark energy research) of WFIRST. While WFIRST dark energy measurements are expected to be superior to Euclid's, U.S. participation in Euclid will have clear scientific, technical, and programmatic benefits to the U.S. community as WFIRST and Euclid go forward. According to this report, the current NASA proposal, to invest modestly in Euclid, is consistent with an expeditious development of WFIRST and the achievement of the broader, and more ambitious, goals outlined in New Worlds, New Horizons. Knowledge gained from the Euclid project could help optimize the science return of the WFIRST mission as well. Such an investment will further the goals of New Worlds, New Horizons, be helpful to the preparations for WFIRST, and enhance WFIRST's chances of success.

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