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U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report (1999)

Chapter: A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation

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Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
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Appendix A

Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

Space Research Committee (SRC)

Science Council of Japan (JSC)

European Space Science Committee (ESSC)

Committee on International Space Programs (CISP)

Space Studies Board (SSB)

ATTENDEES

Len Culhane, ESSC Chair, University College London

Atsuhiro Nishida, SRC Chair, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)

Eugene Skolnikoff, CISP Chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Gerhard Haerendel, ESSC, Max Planck Institute

Gerda Horneck, ESSC, DLR, Institut für Luft und Raumfahrtmedizin, Köln, Germany

Manabu Kato, SRC, ISAS

Louis Lanzerotti, CISP, Lucent Technologies

Kazuo Makishima, SRC, University of Tokyo

Phillipe Masson, ESSC, Université de Paris Sud

Carlé Pieters, Brown University

Saturo Watanabe, SRC, Fujita Health University

Pamela Whitney, CISP staff

Jean-Claude Worms, ESSC staff

AGENDA
Introductions

Participants introduced themselves and identified their organizational affiliations.

Discussion of Purpose and Objectives

G. Skolnikoff, CISP chair, outlined the approach for the meeting, which was to begin discussions on cooperation between Japan, Europe, and the United States in space-oriented activities. The objective was to develop new opportunities for cooperation and to illuminate success factors, problem areas, and other issues concerning past cooperation between the United States, Japan, and Europe in space.

Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
×
Organizations

L. Culhane, ESSC chair, presented an overview of the ESSC organizational structure and activities. He explained the ESSC's terms of reference as a European Space Foundation (ESF) associated committee, its structure and external linkages, the process of selecting members, and the ESSC's activities and their outcomes, particularly concerning the need to achieve greater coherence among space programs in Europe. He explained that several ESSC members serve ex officio in various advisory committees of the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Union, and so on. ESSC will have an observer status in ESA's council, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis for each council meeting.

L. Lanzerotti, CISP member and former SSB chair, presented an overview of the SSB. He noted that the SSB was chartered in 1958 as a body independent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The chartered organization is the National Research Council (NRC), which is the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The NRC conducts studies at the request of government agencies but acts independently from the government. Therefore, its advice can be ignored; however, the NRC has earned respect throughout its history and its advice is often acted upon. NASA and Congress make requests of the SSB to prepare studies, with these requests sometimes occurring through congressional legislation. The SSB membership includes 20 to 25 researchers (primarily) and policy specialists that serve for 3-year terms. As a rule, the SSB requests that no member serve on any NASA advisory committees so as to preserve its independence from the agency. The SSB has developed linkages with other NRC boards, including the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy. The organizational structure includes standing discipline committees, the chairs of which serve as members of the board. Other task groups are formed on an ad hoc basis. The SSB is also the adhering U.S. body to the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR).

A. Nishida, chair of the SRC of Japan and director general of ISAS, presented an overview of Japanese space entities and the SRC. He called attention to three organizations that are involved in space activities—ISAS, the National Aeronautics and Space Development Agency (NASDA), and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), which is eager to get involved in space as a way to promote industry. The Space Activities Commission is the prime minister's coordinating body for space activities, although it takes no action on science. The SRC falls under the auspices of the JSC, which was established after World War II. The members of the JSC represent all science disciplines and number about 200. The SRC is composed of about 30 members; it has a NASDA member for Earth sciences and microgravity sciences, but most of the membership (approximately two-thirds) is from universities. The JSC also has committees on astrophysics, geomagnetism, and solar-terrestrial science. The function of the JSC and its subcommittees is advisory and conceptual; so far, its impact on policy making has been weak.

The Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture (Monbusho) has advisory committees on academic matters, on space science, and on high-energy physics. The subcommittee on space science is the most important in terms of decision making and will play a key role in the planned merger between Monbusho and the Science and Technology Agency of the Japanese government. Its functions concern the program operations. ISAS, NASDA, and the National Aeronautics Space Lab are among the member institutions of the space science subcommittee.

The SRC, unlike the subcommittee on space science, is removed from program operations and is therefore the appropriate body for reviewing cooperation and establishing international links.

U.S.-European Collaboration in Space Science Report

J.C. Worms, ESSC staff, presented the approach and rationale for the U.S.-European study. He also described an overview of the types of cooperative arrangements explored, including NASA-ESA and

Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
×

NASA-European space agencies, the case missions studied, and the types of issues explored within the report.

Discussion on How to Proceed

G. Skolnikoff opened the discussion by noting that the U.S.-European report is probably too elaborate to accomplish as a joint U.S.-European-Japanese activity. Instead, he said the groups might work toward a workshop or conference.

A. Nishida presented a chart of ISAS collaborations, calling attention to the fact that most ISAS collaborations are grassroots, scientist-to-scientist activities because these seem to work best. He noted that it is a good time to look back at cooperation in Japanese missions. He also stated that one of the difficulties in cooperative space missions with NASA concerns the memoranda of understanding (MOUs). For example, he signed the MOU for the Japanese Planet-B mission on the eve of the launch. The governments and space agencies on both sides are not well prepared for international cooperation and sometimes try to impose barriers. The issues are political and deep rooted; moreover, the procedures on each side are different.

All sides agreed that a retrospective on Japanese cooperation in space was a good idea. The SRC is to identify a subset of missions for analysis, and all three sides are to identify a subset of people involved in the missions to write about the collaboration according to a template of questions. (The drafting and iterative process could be done largely by e-mail.)

G. Haerendel, president of COSPAR, observed that one never learns from history alone, because the context and experience is never the same as a previous one. He urged the group to look forward, to explore exciting new areas for the future, and to address important aspects of cooperative projects that are about to go wrong and make people aware of potential problems. He noted, for example, that the ESA and NASA cometary programs are disconnected. More important, he urged that the space powers plan together for a major scientific objective of long duration such as a multidecade exploration of the solar system. In addition to small missions, there is a need for science that can be done only on big missions. These issues should be planned in a coordinated program.

All sides agreed that a workshop or symposium should look at the past collaborations with Japan as well as issues for current and future cooperative endeavors. Various participants mentioned key issues affecting the space research environment of the current and future era, including why government should support big missions, and an increasing trend toward commercial investments in space and space applications.

Next Steps

A. Nishida, G. Skolnikoff, and L. Culhane outlined a series of next steps:

  1. Select a subset of Japanese collaborative missions.

  2. Develop a template of questions to analyze the missions.

  3. Request papers on themes for future space cooperation.

  4. Identify who should participate in the workshop or conference—get industry and government to present perspectives.

  5. Consider having two to three meetings for this activity.

Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
×
Page 13
Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
×
Page 14
Suggested Citation:"A: Notes from the Consultation Meeting on Space Cooperation." National Research Council. 1999. U.S.-European-Japanese Workshop on Space Cooperation: Summary Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9758.
×
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