3
Ad Hoc Study Committees: Activities and Membership
When a sponsor requests that the Space Studies Board (SSB) conduct a study, an ad hoc committee is established for that purpose. The committee terminates when the study is completed. These study committees are subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Section 15, because they provide advice and recommendations to the federal government. The SSB and/or one of its standing committees provide oversight for ad hoc study committee activities. Thirteen ad hoc committees were organized, met, or released studies during 2009. (Activities and membership are summarized below.)
In addition, one ad hoc committee produced a report in 2008 and was formally disbanded in 2009—the Committee on Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA’s Constellation System, formed under the auspices of SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB). The committee’s report, Launching Science: Science Opportunities Provided by NASA’s Constellation System, was summarized in the 2008 annual report.
ASSESSMENT OF IMPEDIMENTS TO INTERAGENCY COOPERATION ON SPACE AND EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS
The ad hoc Committee on the Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Cooperation on Space and Earth Science Missions was formed to assess impediments, including cost growth, to the successful conduct of interagency cooperation on Earth science and space science missions; to identify lessons learned and best practices from past interagency Earth science and space science missions; and to recommend steps to help facilitate successful interagency collaborations on Earth science and space science missions.
The committee held its first meeting July 30-31 in Washington, D.C. The committee examined experiences in a number of recent multiagency programs, including National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, Landsat, GOES-R, GLAST/Fermi, and the Joint Dark Energy Mission. Speakers at the meeting included Michael Freilich, Earth Science Division director, NASA Headquarters (HQ) (via videoconference); A. Thomas Young, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp. (retired); Tom Karl and Jeff Privette, director and staff scientist, respectively, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center; Robert Winokur, technical director, oceanographer of the Navy; Anne Kinney, director, Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC); Paul Hertz, chief scientist, Science Mission Directorate, NASA HQ; Robin Staffin, director for basic research, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Kathy Turner, Office of High Energy Physics, Department of Energy; Persis Drell, director, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (via teleconference); Pam Whitney, Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee; Amy Kaminski, Office of Management and Budget; Damon Wells, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP); Phil DeCola, OSTP; Darrel Williams and Jim Irons, NASA GSFC; Paul Menzel, University of Wisconsin (via videoconference); Colleen Hartman, George Washington University; Dana Johnson, Northrop Grumman; and Ronald Sega, Colorado State University.
The committee’s second meeting was held September 30-October 1 in Washington, D.C. Speakers at the meeting included Richard Obermann, staff director, Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, House of Representatives Science and Technology Committee; Michael Freilich, Earth Science Division director, NASA HQ; Mary Kicza, NOAA assistant administrator for satellite and information services; and Geoffrey Pendleton, Dynetics Corporation. During closed session discussions, the committee finalized its report outline and discussed plans for completion of a short report in the Spring of 2010.
No further meetings of the full committee were held in 2009; however, a subset of the committee participated in a November 2 meeting that was held in conjunction with the November 3-4 meeting of the Space Studies Board in Irvine, California; the committee also convened via frequent teleconferences.
Membership
D. James Baker, The William J. Clinton Foundation (co-chair)
Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado at Boulder (co-chair)
David A. Bearden, The Aerospace Corporation
Charles L. Bennett, Johns Hopkins University
Stacey Boland, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Antonio J. Busalacchi, Jr., University of Maryland, College Park
Carlos E. Del Castillo, Johns Hopkins University
Antonio L. Elias, Orbital Sciences Corporation
Margaret Finarelli, George Mason University
Todd R. La Porte, University of California, Berkeley
Margaret S. Leinen, Climate Response Fund
Scott N. Pace, George Washington University
Mark R. Schoeberl,* NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Graeme L. Stephens, Colorado State University
Annalisa L. Weigel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael S. Witherell, University of California, Santa Barbara
A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)
Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
Terri Baker, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
ASSESSMENT OF NASA LABORATORY CAPABILITIES
Congress directed NASA to arrange for an independent assessment of NASA laboratory capabilities; as a result, the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Laboratory Assessments Board, in collaboration with the SSB, formed the ad hoc Committee on Assessment of NASA Laboratory Capabilities to carry out a review of NASA’s laboratories to determine whether they are equipped and maintained at a level adequate to support NASA’s fundamental science and engineering research activities. The committee held its first meeting on September 8-9 in Washington, D.C., at which personnel from NASA Headquarters and seven NASA centers described their laboratories and associated research activities. In closed sessions, the committee laid out the guidelines for site visits to NASA centers to view firsthand the major laboratories and facilities involved in fundamental research.
The committee’s first site visit was to NASA GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland, on September 9-10. Committee subgroups also visited Glenn Research Center on October 15-16; Langley Research Center on October 21-22; Ames Research Center (aeronautics activities only); and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on November 9-10.
At the second full committee meeting at the National Academies’ Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California, on November 11-12, agreement was reached on the overall report philosophy, and format and writing assignments were made. The committee determined that additional site visits were needed, and committee subgroups visited Ames Research Center’s space activities on December 2-3 and the Marshall Space Flight Center
on December 10. The third and final committee meeting will be held on January 19-20, 2010, at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C.
Membership
John T. Best, Arnold Engineering Development Center (co-chair)
Joseph B. Reagan, Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Inc. (retired) (co-chair)
William F. Ballhaus, Jr., The Aerospace Corporation (retired)
Peter M. Banks, Astrolabe Venture Partners
Ramon L. Chase, ANSER (Analytic Services, Inc.)
Ravi B. Deo, Northrop Grumman Corporation (retired)
Neil A. Duffie, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Michael G. Dunn, Ohio State University
Blair B. Gloss, NASA (retired)
Marvine P. Hamner, George Washington University
Wesley L. Harris, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Basil Hassan, Sandia National Laboratories
Joan Hoopes, Orbital Technologies Corporation
William E. McClintock, University of Colorado at Boulder
Edward D. McCullough, Boeing Phantom Works
Todd J. Mosher, Sierra Nevada Corporation
Eli Reshotko, Case Western Reserve University
John C. Sommerer,* Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
James M. Tien, University of Miami
Candace E. Wark, Illinois Institute of Technology
John F. Wendt, Senior Program Officer, ASEB (study director)
James P. McGee, Director, LAB
Arul Mozhi, Senior Program Officer, LAB
Liza Hamilton, Administrative Coordinator, LAB
Eva Labre, Program Associate, LAB
ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS DECADAL SURVEY COMMITTEE
The Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA), in cooperation with SSB, initiated the next decadal survey for astronomy and astrophysics, Astro2010, to survey the field of space- and ground-based astronomy and astrophysics, recommending priorities for the most important scientific and technical activities of the decade 2010-2020. The survey is taking place over eighteen months and comprises two overlapping phases. The first phase was mostly concerned with establishing a science program, fact-finding, and establishing a procedure for the second phase. The second phase is concerned with creating a prioritized, balanced, and executable series of research activities—that is, ground- and space-based research programs, projects, telescopes, and missions—that will define the forefront of astronomy and astrophysics for the decade 2011-2020.
The Astro2010 Survey Committee is assisted in its work by a series of nine panels addressing various topics—five Science Frontiers panels and four Program Prioritization panels. The Survey Committee will be responsible for synthesizing the panel inputs, determining priorities and recommendations, and preparing the final report which will have two volumes (a main committee report and a volume that will contain reports from the panels). The Survey Committee and panels conducted over 30 meetings throughout 2009.
Over 700 pieces of input from the community was received in the form of town hall meeting reports, white papers, position papers, and responses to requests for information. Seventeen Astro2010 town hall meetings were held across the U.S., including sessions on January 6 at the AAS meeting in Long Beach, California, and on May 4-5 at the American Physical Society meeting in Denver, Colorado.
During the last quarter of 2009, five of the nine panel reports entered the NRC’s peer-review process. The remaining panel reports are scheduled to enter review in early 2010 and the Survey Committee plans to hold their last two (closed) meetings in January and February 2010. The Survey Committee’s report is scheduled to enter NRC review in the spring. The prepublication versions of the Survey Committee report and the panel reports are expected to be released in the summer of 2010. Further information and updates are available at http://www.nationalacademies.org/astro2010.
Survey Committee Membership
Roger D. Blandford, Stanford University (chair)
Lynne Hillenbrand, California Institute of Technology (executive officer)
Martha P. Haynes, Cornell University (co-vice chair)
John P. Huchra, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (co-vice chair)
Marcia J. Rieke, University of Arizona (co-vice chair)
Steven J. Battel, Battel Engineering
Lars Bildsten, University of California, Santa Barbara
John E. Carlstrom, University of Chicago
Debra M. Elmegreen, Vassar College
Joshua Frieman, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Fiona A. Harrison, California Institute of Technology
Timothy M. Heckman, Johns Hopkins University
Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr., University of Cambridge
Jonathan I. Lunine, University of Rome Tor Vergata
Claire E. Max, University of California, Santa Cruz
Dan McCammon, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Steven M. Ritz, SCIPP, University of California, Santa Cruz
Juri Toomre, University of Colorado, Boulder
Scott D. Tremaine, Institute for Advanced Study
Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago
Neil de Grasse Tyson, American Museum of Natural History
Paul Adrian Vanden Bout, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)
Staff
Donald C. Shapero, Director, BPA
Michael H. Moloney, Associate Director BPA (study director)
Richard Rowberg, Associate Director, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS)
Brant L. Sponberg, Associate Director and Senior Program Officer, SSB
Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer, BPA
Brian D. Dewhurst, Program Officer, ASEB (until August 2009)
James Lancaster, Program Officer, BPA (from April 2009)
David Lang, Program Officer, BPA
Teri Thorowgood, Administrative Coordinator, BPA (from December 2009)
Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
Caryn Knutsen, Research Associate, BPA
LaVita Coates-Fogle, Senior Program Assistant, BPA (until October 2009)
Beth Dolan, Financial Associate, DEPS
Panel on Cosmology and Fundamental Physics Membership
David Spergel, Princeton University (chair)
David Weinberg, Ohio State University (vice chair)
Rachel Bean, Cornell University
Neil Cornish, Montana State University
Jonathan Feng, University of California at Irvine
Alex Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley
Wick Haxton, NAS, University of Washington
Marc Kamionkowski, California Institute of Technology
Lisa Randall, Harvard University
Eun-Suk Seo, University of Maryland
David Tytler, University of California, San Diego
Clifford Will, Washington University
Panel on Planetary Systems and Star Formation Membership
Lee Hartmann, University of Michigan (chair)
Hector Arce, Yale University
Claire Chandler, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
David Charbonneau, Harvard University
Eugene Chiang, University of California, Berkeley
Suzan Edwards, Smith College
Eric Herbst, Ohio State University
David C. Jewitt, University of Hawaii
James P. Lloyd, Cornell University
Eve C. Ostriker, University of Maryland
David Stevenson, California Institute of Technology
Jonathan Tan, University of Florida
Daniel M. Watson, University of Rochester
Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolution Membership
Roger Chevalier, University of Virginia (chair)
Robert Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (vice chair)
Deepto Chakrabarty, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Suzanne Hawley, University of Washington
Jeffrey Kuhn, University of Hawaii
Stanley Owocki, University of Delaware
Marc Pinsonneault, Ohio State University
Eliot Quataert, University of California, Berkeley
Scott Ransom, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Hendrik Schatz, Michigan State University
Lee Anne Willson, Iowa State University
Stanford Woosley, University of California, Santa Cruz
Panel on Galactic Neighborhood Membership
Michael Shull, University of Colorado (chair)
Leo Blitz, University of California, Berkeley
Julianne Dalcanton, University of Washington
Bruce Draine, Princeton University
Robert Fesen, Dartmouth University
Karl Gebhardt, University of Texas
Juna Kollmeier, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington
Crystal Martin, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jason Tumlinson, Space Telescope Science Institute
Daniel Wang, University of Massachusetts
Dennis Zaritsky, University of Arizona
Stephen Zepf, Michigan State University
Panel on Galaxies Across Cosmic Time Membership
Meg Urry, Yale University (chair)
Mitchell Begelman, University of Colorado (vice chair)
Andrew Baker, Rutgers University
Neta Bahcall, Princeton University
Romeel Davé, University of Arizona
Tiziana di Matteo, Carnegie Mellon University
Henric Krawczynski, Washington University
Joseph Mohr, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Richard Mushotzky, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Chris Reynolds, University of Maryland
Alice Shapley, University of California, Los Angeles
Tommaso Treu, University of California, Santa Barbara
Jaqueline van Gorkom, Columbia University
Eric Wilcots, University of Wisconsin
Panel on Radio, Millimeter and Submillimeter from the Ground Membership
Neal Evans, University of Texas (chair)
James M. Moran, Harvard University (vice chair)
Crystal Brogan, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Aaron Evans, University of Virginia
Sarah Gibson, National Center for Atmospheric Research High Altitude Observatory
Jason Glenn, University of Colorado
Nicholas Gnedin, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Cornelia C. Lang, University of Iowa
Miguel Morales, University of Washington
Maura McLaughlin, West Virginia University
Lyman A. Page, Jr., Princeton University
Jean Turner, University of California, Los Angeles
David J. Wilner, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Panel on Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground Membership
Patrick S. Osmer, Ohio State University (chair)
Michael Skrutskie, University of Virginia (vice chair)
Charles Bailyn, Yale University
Betsy Barton, University of California, Irvine
Todd Boroson, National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Daniel Eisenstein, University of Arizona
Andrea Ghez, University of California, Los Angeles
J. Todd Hoeksema, Stanford University
Robert Kirshner, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Bruce Macintosh, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Piero Madau, University of California, Santa Cruz
John Monnier, University of Michigan
Iain Neill Reid, Space Telescope Science Institute
Charles E. Woodward, University of Minnesota
Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space Membership
Alan Dressler, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (chair)
Michael Bay, Bay Engineering Innovations
Alan Boss, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Mark Devlin, University of Pennsylvania
Megan Donahue, Michigan State University
Brenna Flaugher, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Tom Greene, NASA Ames Research Center
Puragra (Raja) GuhaThakurta, University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory
Michael Hauser, Space Telescope Science Institute
Harold McAlister, Georgia State University
Peter Michelson, Stanford University
Ben Oppenheimer, American Museum of Natural History
Frits Paerels, Columbia University
Adam Reiss, Johns Hopkins University
George Rieke, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Paul Schechter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Todd Tripp, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Panel on Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation Membership
Jacqueline Hewitt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (chair)
Eric Adelberger, University of Washington
Andreas Albrecht, University of California, Davis
Elena Aprile, Columbia University
Jonathan Arons, University of California, Berkeley
Barry Barish, California Institute of Technology
Joan Centrella, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Douglas Finkbeiner, Harvard University
Kathy Flanagan, Space Telescope Science Institute
Gabriela Gonzalez, Louisiana State University
Jim Hartle, University of California, Santa Barbara
Steve Kahn, Stanford University
Jeremy Kasdin, Princeton University
Teresa Montaruli, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Angela Olinto, University of Chicago
Rene Ong, University of California, Los Angeles
Helen Quinn, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
COST GROWTH IN NASA EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE MISSIONS
The ad hoc Committee on Cost Growth in NASA Earth and Space Science Missions was formed to review existing cost growth studies related to NASA space and Earth science missions and identify their key causes of cost growth and strategies for mitigating cost growth; assess whether those key causes remain applicable in the current environment and identifying any new major causes; and evaluate the effectiveness of current and planned NASA cost growth mitigation strategies and, as appropriate, recommend new strategies to ensure frequent mission opportunities.
The committee’s first meeting, on September 1-2 in Washington, D.C., included discussions with NASA staff on past assessments of cost and schedule growth of NASA space and Earth science missions and committee deliberations on the current applicability of historic causes of cost and schedule growth and past strategies to deal with this problem. The second meeting, on October 14-16 at JPL in Pasadena, California, included discussions with personnel from NASA Headquarters, JPL, GSFC, the U.S. Air Force, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and industry regarding the causes of cost and schedule growth and possible approaches for improvement.
At its third meeting on December 3-4 in Washington, D.C., the committee focused on reviewing the report outline, developing consensus on findings and recommendations, and assigning draft sections of the report. Based on the progress at this meeting, the committee elected to schedule a fourth and final writing meeting for January 11-12, 2010, in Boulder, Colorado. The committee plans to have its draft report submitted for NRC review by late spring 2010; with delivery to NASA of a prepublication version expected in late May 2010. The final printed report is expected to be completed and released in July 2010.
Membership
Ronald M. Sega, Colorado State University Research Foundation (chair)
Vassilis Angelopoulos, University of California, Berkeley
Robert E. Bitten,* The Aerospace Corporation
Allan V. Burman, Jefferson Consulting Group, LLC
Olivier L. de Weck, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert E. Deemer, Regis University
Larry W. Esposito, University of Colorado, Boulder
Joseph Fuller, Jr., Futron Corporation
Joseph W. Hamaker, Science Applications International Corporation
Victoria E. Hamilton, Southwest Research Institute
John M. Klineberg, Loral Space and Communications, Ltd. (retired)
Robert P. Lin,* University of California, Berkeley
Bruce D. Marcus, TRW Inc. (retired)
Emery I. Reeves, Independent Consultant
William F. Townsend, Independent Consultant
Alan C. Angleman, Senior Program Officer, ASEB (study director)
Andrea M. Rebholz, Program Associate, ASEB
DECADAL SURVEY ON BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES IN SPACE
The Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space was formed under the auspieces of the SSB and the ASEB in response to a congressional request for a study to establish priorities and provide recommendations for life and physical sciences space research, including research that will enable exploration missions in microgravity and partial gravity for the 2010-2020 decade.
The decadal survey will define research areas, recommend a research portfolio and a timeline for conducting that research, identify facility and platform requirements as appropriate, provide rationales for suggested program elements, define dependencies between research objectives, identify terrestrial benefits, and specify whether the research product directly enables exploration or produces fundamental new knowledge. These areas will be categorized as either those that are required to enable exploration missions or those that are enabled or facilitated because of exploration missions.
The steering committee held its first meeting on May 6-8 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C. The first day and a half was devoted to discussions of the study goals with NASA and congressional staffers and obtaining necessary background briefings on topics such as NASA exploration capability needs and the current research program structure and content. During the closed portion of the meeting, the committee concentrated its efforts on determining how it would structure its seven focus panels and began the process of identifying appropriate expertise and membership for each panel. Work on panel development continued following the meeting, through both frequent internal discussions and consultations with members of the community.
The steering committee held its second meeting on June 29-July 1 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C. Additional briefings related to the various past research solicitation and management approaches used by NASA were obtained, however most of the meeting was devoted to detailed planning for the work of the committee and its panels. Following the meeting, the steering committee continued to work on the member-
appointment process for the seven study panels, planning for several town halls, solicitation of white papers through numerous announcements sent to various lists and organizations relevant to the NASA biological and physical sciences program, and the organization of a joint first meeting for the panels.
The joint meeting of the panels was held on August 19-21 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., and six of the seven panels participated. The panels attending the meeting were the Plant and Microbial Biology Panel, the Animal and Human Biology Panel, the Human Behavior and Mental Health Panel, the Applied Physical Sciences Panel, the Integrative and Translational Research for the Human System Panel, and the Translation to Space Exploration Systems Panel. Approximately 70 attendees were given an overview of the study by steering committee co-chair Betsy Cantwell and heard detailed background briefings on NASA’s exploration needs, research capabilities, and program status and history. Panels then met separately in closed sessions where they discussed the task and the various information resources that were, or would become, available during the study. Each panel developed preliminary strategies for addressing their task items, chapter outlines, and writing assignments. The seventh panel, the Fundamental Physical Sciences Panel, was unable to attend the joint meeting, but met on September 8-9 with an agenda and activities similar to those of the joint meeting.
The steering committee met on October 14-16, in Washington, D.C., to hear presentations on the European and Japanese microgravity programs, as well as presentations on research opportunities that could potentially become available on commercial spacecraft. Most of the meeting was reserved for closed session discussions on the status of efforts to recruit community input, review of materials drafted by the panels, and report development and planning activities. A teleconference call was held with the seven panel chairs for this study during the meeting. Following the meeting, the steering committee continued to hold frequent joint teleconference calls with individual panels in order to provide input and guidance.
After a broad canvassing of the relevant communities, the solicitation of white papers for this study was completed in mid-October, with the receipt of about 150 papers from the community (many with multiple authors). The white papers covered a wide number of disciplines relevant to the study and were subsequently reviewed by each of the seven study panels and the steering committee. Four town halls were held in conjunction with scientific society or technical meetings during this period—meetings of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology, the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. At each of these meetings, steering committee members presented information on the study and led discussions aimed at soliciting input on important research and programmatic issues.
Nine additional meetings of the various study panels were held prior to the end of 2009 in order to gather and assess inputs from a wide range of sources, including invited presentations, and to continue development of chapters and recommendations for the report. In addition to regular meetings, the panels have continued to hold teleconference calls in order to address report development issues. Regular meetings of the panels will be completed by the end of January 2010.
Updates and detailed information on the study are provided on the public Web site at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/ssb_050845.
Steering Committee Membership
Elizabeth R. Cantwell, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (co-chair)
Wendy Kohrt, University of Colorado, Denver (co-chair)
Lars Berglund, University of California, Davis
Nicholas P. Bigelow, University of Rochester
Leonard H. Caveny, Independent Consultant
Vijay K. Dhir, University of California, Los Angeles
Joel Dimsdale, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
Nikolaos A. Gatsonis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Simon Gilroy, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Benjamin D. Levine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Kathryn V. Logan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Philippa Marrack, National Jewish Health
Gabor A. Somorjai, University of California, Berkeley
Charles M. Tipton, University of Arizona
Jose L. Torero, University of Edinburgh
Robert Wegeng, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Gayle E. Woloschak, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Sandra J. Graham, Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Alan C. Angleman, Senior Program Officer,* ASEB
Ian W. Pryke, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer,* BPA
Maureen Mellody, Program Officer,* ASEB
Regina North, Consultant
Lewis Groswald, Research Associate, SSB
Danielle Johnson,* Senior Program Assistant, Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies
Laura Toth,* Senior Program Assistant, National Materials Advisory Board
Linda M. Walker, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
Eric Whittaker,* Senior Program Assistant, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
Animal and Human Biology Panel Membership
Kenneth M. Baldwin, University of California, Irvine (chair)
Francois M. Abboud, University of Iowa, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Peter R. Cavanagh, University of Washington
V. Reggie Edgerton, University of California, Los Angeles
Donna Murasko, Drexel University
John T. Potts, Jr., Massachusetts General Hospital
April E. Ronca, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Charles M. Tipton, University of Arizona
Charles H. Turner, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
John B. West, University of California, San Diego
Applied Physical Sciences Panel Membership
Peter W. Voorhees, Northwestern University (chair)
Nikolaos A. Gatsonis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Richard T. Lahey, Jr., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Richard M. Lueptow, Northwestern University
John J. Moore, Colorado School of Mines
Elaine S. Oran, Naval Research Laboratory
Amy L. Rechenmacher, University of Southern California
James T’ien, Case Western Reserve University
Mark M. Weislogel, Portland State University
Fundamental Physics Panel Membership
Robert V. Duncan, University of Missouri (chair)
Nicholas P. Bigelow, University of Rochester
Paul M. Chaikin, New York University
Ronald G. Larson, University of Michigan
W. Carl Lineberger, University of Colorado, Boulder
Ronald Walsworth, Harvard University
Human Behavior and Mental Health Panel Membership
Thomas J. Balkin, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (chair)
Joel E. Dimsdale, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
Nick Kanas, University of California, San Francisco
Gloria Leon, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Lawrence A. Palinkas, University of California, San Diego
Mriganka Sur, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Integrative and Translational Research for the Human System Panel Membership
James A. Pawelczyk, Pennsylvania State University (chair)
Alan R. Hargens, University of California, San Diego
Robert L. Helmreich, University of Texas, Austin (retired)
Joanne R. Lupton, Texas A&M University, College Station
Charles M. Oman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Robertson, Vanderbilt University
Suzanne M. Schneider, University of New Mexico
Gayle E. Woloschak, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Plant and Microbial Biology Panel Membership
Terri L. Lomax, North Carolina State University (chair)
Paul Blount, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
Robert J. Ferl, University of Florida
Simon Gilroy, University of Wisconsin, Madison
E. Peter Greenberg, University of Washington School of Medicine
Translation to Space Exploration Systems Panel Membership
James P. Bagian, Veterans Health Administration (chair)
Frederick R. Best, Texas A&M University, College Station
Leonard H. Caveny, Independent Consultant
Michael B. Duke, Colorado School of Mines (retired)
John P. Kizito, North Carolina A&T State University
David Y. Kusnierkiewicz, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
E. Thomas Mahefkey, Jr., Heat Transfer Technology Consultants
Dava J. Newman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Richard J. Roby, Combustion Science and Engineering, Inc.
Guillermo Trotti, Trotti and Associates, Inc.
Alan Wilhite, Georgia Institute of Technology
HELIOPHYSICS PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
The ad hoc Heliophysics Performance Assessment Committee was formed to study the alignment of NASA’s Heliophysics Science Division with previous NRC advice—primarily the 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics. In particular, the study focused on how well NASA’s current program addresses the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in the decadal survey and other relevant NRC reports; NASA’s progress toward realizing these strategies, goals and priorities; and any actions that could be taken to optimize the science value of the program in the context of current and forecasted resources available. The study did not revisit or alter the scientific priorities or mission recommendations provided in the 2003 decadal survey, but provides guidance about implementing the recommended mission portfolio in preparation for the next decadal survey.
The committee’s report, A Performance Assessment of NASA’s Heliophysics Program, was delivered in pre-publication form on February 17 and printed in March. The report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Membership*
Stephen A. Fuselier, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (co-chair)
Roderick A. Heelis, University of Texas at Dallas (co-chair)
Thomas Berger, Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
George Gloeckler,** University of Maryland, College Park
Jack R. Jokipii, University of Arizona
Krishan Khurana, University of California, Los Angeles
Dana Warfield Longcope, Montana State University
Gang Lu, High Altitude Observatory
Kristina A. Lynch, Dartmouth College
Frank B. McDonald, University of Maryland, College Park
Michael Mendillo, Boston University
Robert E. Palmer, Independent Consultant
Gary P. Zank, University of California, Riverside
Brant L. Sponberg, Associate Director and Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
NASA’S SUBORBITAL RESEARCH CAPABILITIES
The ad hoc Committee on NASA’s Suborbital Research Capabilities conducted a study of suborbital flight activities, including the use of sounding rockets, aircraft (including the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), balloons, and suborbital reusable launch vehicles, as well as opportunities for research, training, and education as set out in the 2007 report Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration.
The committee met on May 20-21, 2009, at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C., and the meeting included briefings on the NASA suborbital program (NASA staff); NASA workforce issues (David Black, co-chair of the NRC committee that authored Building a Better NASA Workforce); and NASA mission-enabling issues (Lennard Fisk, chair of the Committee on the Role and Scope of Mission-Enabling Activities in NASA’s Space and Earth Science Missions, and staff officer Joseph Alexander). At its second meeting, on August 19-20, 2009, at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado, the committee heard presentations from several researchers who conduct research in the suborbital realm. At the committee’s third and final meeting on September 23-25, 2009, at the National Academies’ Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California, the committee heard from several researchers on their suborbital work and received a second briefing from Lennard Fisk and Joseph Alexander.
A prepublication version of the report, Revitalizing NASA’s Suborbital Program: Advancing Science, Driving Innovation, and Developing Workforce, was delivered to NASA on February 4, 2010. Briefings for congressional staff and NASA management were well received. The final, printed version of the report is expected to be released in mid-March 2010.
Membership
Steven R. Bohlen, Texas A&M University (chair)
Kristin A. Blais, The Boeing Company
Mark A. Brosmer, The Aerospace Corporation
Estelle Condon, NASA Ames Research Center (retired)
Christine Foreman, Montana State University
Adam P.-H. Huang, University of Arkansas
Michael J. Kurylo III, Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center
Robert P. Lin, University of California, Berkeley
Franklin D. Martin, Martin Consulting Inc.
R. Bruce Partridge, Haverford College
Robert Pincus, RP Consultants
W. Thomas Vestrand, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Erik Wilkinson, Southwest Research Institute
Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer, BPA (study director)
Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer, SSB
Linda M. Walker, Senior Project Assistant, SSB
NEAR-EARTH OBJECT SURVEYS AND HAZARD MITIGATION STRATEGIES
An ad hoc Committee on Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies was formed under the auspices of the SSB and ASEB to undertake a two-phase study to review the two NASA reports, 2006 Near-Earth Object Survey and Detection Study and Near-Earth Object Survey and Deflection Analysis of Alternatives: Report to Congress, and other relevant literature and provide recommendations that will address two major issues: (1) determining the best approach to completing the near-Earth object (NEO) census required by Congress to identify potentially hazardous NEOs larger than 140 meters in diameter by the year 2020 and (2) determining the optimal approach to developing a deflection strategy and ensuring that it includes a significant international effort. Both tasks will include an assessment of the costs of various alternatives, using independent cost estimating. Task 1 was addressed by the Survey/Detection Panel, and Task 2 was addressed by the Mitigation Panel.
The steering group held its first meeting at the National Academies’ Keck Center on December 9-11, 2008. In 2009, the steering group met on May 18-20 at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico; on August 10-11 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and on September 1-2 in Irvine, California.
The Survey/Detection Panel met on January 28-30 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C., on April 20-22 at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, where it visited the Catalina Sky Survey Telescope. On April 29-30, the chair of the Survey/Detection Panel and a member of the Mitigation Panel visited the Pan-STARRS-1 telescope facility on Maui. The Survey/Detection Panel met on July 13-15 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for report writing.
The Mitigation Panel met on March 30-April 1 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C.; on June 23-25 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and on July 29-31 in Boulder, Colorado, for report writing.
The committee’s interim report, Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Interim Report, was released in early August. The committee’s final report, Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Final Report, entered NRC review in fall 2009 and the prepublication version was released to the public on January 22, 2010. The interim report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Steering Group Membership
Irwin I. Shapiro, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (chair)
Michael A’Hearn, University of Maryland, College Park (vice chair)
Faith Vilas, MMT Observatory at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona (vice chair)
Andrew F. Cheng, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
Frank Culbertson, Jr., Orbital Sciences Corporation
David C. Jewitt, University of California, Los Angeles
Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute
H. Jay Melosh, Purdue University
Joseph H. Rothenberg, Universal Space Network
Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Paul Jackson, Associate Program Officer, ASEB (study director)
David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer, SSB
Abigail A. Sheffer, Associate Program Officer, SSB
Victoria Swisher, Research Associate, SSB (through August)
Andrea Rebholz, Program Associate, ASEB
Lewis Groswald, Research Associate, SSB
Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
Survey/Detection Panel Membership
Faith Vilas, MMT Observatory at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona (chair)
Paul Abell, Planetary Science Institute
Robert F. Arentz, Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation
Lance A.M. Benner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
William F. Bottke, Southwest Research Institute
William E. Burrows, Independent Aerospace Writer and Historian
Andrew F. Cheng, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Robert D. Culp, University of Colorado, Boulder
Yanga Fernandez, University of Central Florida
Lynne Jones, University of Washington
Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Amy Mainzer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Gordon H. Pettengill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (retired)
John Rice, University of California, Berkeley
Mitigation Panel Membership
Michael A’Hearn, University of Maryland, College Park (chair)
Michael J.S. Belton, National Optical Astronomy Observatories
Mark Boslough, Sandia National Laboratories
Clark R. Chapman, Southwest Research Institute
Sigrid Close, Stanford University
James A. Dator, University of Hawaii, Manoa
David S.P. Dearborn, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Keith A. Holsapple, University of Washington
David Y. Kusnierkiewicz, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Paulo Lozano, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Edward D. McCullough, Boeing (retired)
H. Jay Melosh, Purdue University
David J. Nash, Dave Nash & Associates, LLC
Daniel J. Scheeres, University of Colorado, Boulder
Sarah T. Stewart-Mukhopadhyay, Harvard University
Kathryn C. Thornton, University of Virginia
PLANETARY PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS FOR MARS SAMPLE-RETURN MISSIONS
An ad hoc Committee on Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample-Return Missions was formed to review and update the 1997 NRC report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations in the light of new findings about Mars and recent advances in the biological sciences.
The committee completed all of its scheduled meetings in 2008 and completed an initial draft of its report in early December 2008. The committee spent the first 6 weeks of 2009 revising the draft report in response to comments provided by external reviewers. A prepublication version of the report was delivered to NASA in late April and the final report was printed in May 2009. The report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Membership*
Jack D. Farmer, Arizona State University (chair)
James F. Bell III, Cornell University
Kathleen C. Benison, Central Michigan University
William V. Boynton, University of Arizona
Sherry L. Cady, Portland State University
F. Grant Ferris, University of Toronto
Duncan MacPherson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Margaret S. Race, SETI Institute
Mark H. Thiemens, University of California, San Diego
Meenakshi Wadhwa, Arizona State University
David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
PLANETARY SCIENCES DECADAL SURVEY
The Planetary Sciences Decadal Survey was established to develop a comprehensive science and mission strategy for planetary science that updates and extends the Board’s 2003 solar system exploration decadal survey, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy. The new decadal survey will broadly canvas the planetary science community to determine the current state of knowledge and then identify the most important scientific questions expected to face the community during the interval 2013-2022. This 2-year study at the request of NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) began in 2009 with the appointment of the steering group and various outreach activities. Steering group chair Steven Squyres led a town hall session designed to inform the scientific community of the decadal survey’s goals and schedule at the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference (Houston, Texas, March 25). Committee staff conducted similar outreach activities at a variety of venues including the meetings of the Venus Exploration Analysis Group (Houston, Texas, February 25), the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (Arlington, Virginia, March 3-4), the Outer Planets Assessment Group (Bethesda, Maryland, March 9-10), the Royal Astronomical Society (London, England, March 13), and the Curation and Analysis Team for Extraterrestrial Materials (Houston, Texas, March 28-29).
During 2009, the survey steering group met twice, on July 6-8 in Washington, D.C., and on November 16-18 in Irvine, California. The panels have held the following meetings: Giant Planets Panel, August 24-26, Washington, D.C. and October 26-28, Irvine, California; Inner Planets Panel, August 26-28, Washington, D.C., and October 26-28, Irvine, California; Mars Panel, September 9-11, Tempe, Arizona, and November 4-6, Pasadena, California; Primitive Bodies Panel, September 9-11, Washington, D.C., and October 28-30, Irvine, California; and Satellites Panel, August 24-26, Washington, D.C., and September 21-23 in Irvine, California.
Additional community outreach activities in support of the decadal survey were held at a variety of venues, including the meetings of the Outer Planets Assessment Group (Colombia, Maryland, July 14), the NASA Lunar Science Institute (Moffett Field, California, July 21-23), the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (Providence, Rhode Island, July 29-30), the European Planetary Science Congress (Potsdam, Germany, September 13-18), the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society (Fajardo, Puerto Rico, October 4-9), the American Geophysical Union (San Francisco, California, December 14-18), and the Lunar and PlanetarySciences Conference (The Woodlands, Texas, March 1-5, 2010).
To assist its activities, the decadal survey has commissioned mission studies to be undertaken at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In a related activity, the decadal survey has engaged the services of the Aerospace Corporation to provide independent cost and technical evaluations of the highest-priority mission concepts resulting from these studies.
Committee and panel meetings and community outreach activities continued in 2010. Updates from the steering group chair to the planetary community can be found at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/SSB_054187. Presentations at these and other meetings, together with meeting summaries and archived webcasts, are available at
the decadal survey’s Web site at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/ssb_052412. The decadal survey is scheduled to be delivered to NASA and NSF by the end of March 2011.
Steering Group Membership
Steven W. Squyres, Cornell University (chair)
Laurence A. Soderblom, U.S. Geological Survey (vice chair)
Wendy M. Calvin, University of Nevada, Reno
Dale Cruikshank, NASA Ames Research Center
Pascale Ehrenfreund, George Washington University
G. Scott Hubbard, Stanford University
Wesley T. Huntress, Jr.,* Carnegie Institution of Washington
Margaret G. Kivelson, University of California, Los Angeles
B. Gentry Lee, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jane Luu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory
Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Ralph L. McNutt, Jr., Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
Harry Y. McSween, Jr., University of Tennessee, Knoxville
George A. Paulikas,* The Aerospace Corporation (retired)
Amy Simon-Miller, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
David J. Stevenson, California Institute of Technology
A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)
David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer, SSB
Abigail Sheffer, Associate Program Officer, SSB
Dionna Williams, Program Associate, SSB
Lewis Groswald, Research Associate, SSB
Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant, SSB
Satellites Panel Membership
John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute (chair)
David J. Stevenson, California Institute of Technology (vice chair)
Glenn Fountain, Johns Hopkins University
Caitlin Ann Griffith, University of Arizona
Krishan Khurana, University of California, Los Angeles
Christopher P. McKay, NASA Ames Research Center
Francis Nimmo, University of California, Santa Cruz
Louise M. Prockter, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
Gerald Schubert, University of California, Los Angeles
Thomas R. Spilker, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Elizabeth P. Turtle, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
Hunter Waite, University of Michigan
Giant Planet Panel Membership
Heidi B. Hammel, Space Science Institute (chair)
Amy Simon-Miller, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (vice chair)
Reta F. Beebe, New Mexico State University
John R. Casani, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
John Clarke, Boston University
Bridgette Hesman,** National Radio Astronomy Observatory
William B. Hubbard, University of Arizona
Mark S. Marley, NASA Ames Research Center
Philip D. Nicholson, Cornell University
R. Wayne Richie, NASA Langley Research Center (retired)
Kunio M. Sayanagi, California Institute of Technology
Inner Planets Panel Membership
Ellen R. Stofan, Proxemy Research (chair)
Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute (vice chair)
Barbara A. Cohen, NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Martha S. Gilmore, Wesleyan University
Lori Glaze, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
David H. Grinspoon, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Steven A. Hauck II, Case Western Reserve University
Ayanna M. Howard, Georgia Institute of Technology
Charles K. Shearer, University of New Mexico
Douglas S. Stetson, Space Science and Exploration Consulting Group
Edward M. Stolper, California Institute of Technology
Allan H. Treiman, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Mars Panel Membership
Philip R. Christensen, Arizona State University (chair)
Wendy M. Calvin, University of Nevada, Reno (vice chair)
Raymond E. Arvidson, Washington University
Robert D. Braun,*** Georgia Institute of Technology
Glenn E. Cunningham, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (retired)
David Des Marias, NASA Ames Research Center
Linda T. Elkins-Tanton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Francois Forget, University of Paris
John P. Grotzinger, California Institute of Technology
Penelope King, University of New Mexico
Philippe Lognonne, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
Paul R. Mahaffy, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Lisa M. Pratt, Indiana University
Primitive Bodies Panel Membership
Joseph F. Veverka, Cornell University (chair)
Harry Y. McSween, Jr., University of Tennessee, Knoxville (vice chair)
Eric Asphaug, University of California, Santa Cruz
Michael E. Brown, California Institute of Technology
Donald E. Brownlee, University of Washington
Marc Buie, Southwest Research Institute
Timothy J. McCoy, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History
Marc D. Rayman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Edward Reynolds, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
Mark Sephton, Imperial College London
Jessica Sunshine, University of Maryland, College Park
Faith Vilas, MMT Observatory
RADIOISOTOPE POWER SYSTEMS
The U.S. space program’s legendary successes include missions to circle the Earth, land on the Moon and Mars, orbit Jupiter and Saturn, and explore space beyond the limits of our solar system. Ensuring that space vehicles have adequate power presents special challenges in distant and extreme environments. Radioisotope power systems are currently the only available energy source for missions where solar power is not practical , and plutonium-238 (Pu-238 ), a nonweapons-grade material used solely by the space program, is the only practical isotope for fueling them. However, no Pu-238 has been produced in the United States since the late 1980s, and supplies are dwindling.
The ad hoc Committee on Radioisotope Power Systems was formed under the auspices of the SSB and ASEB to assess the technical readiness and programmatic balance of NASA’s radioisotope power systems technology portfolio in terms of its ability to support NASA’s near- and long-term mission plans. In addition, the study examined related public and private infrastructure and the effectiveness of other federal agencies involved in relevant research and development. The study also reviewed strategies for reestablishing domestic production of Pu-238, which serves as the fuel for radioisotope power systems.
The committee held its final committee meeting on January 12-13, 2009, at the National Academies’ Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center, in Irvine, California. The committee subsequently prepared a complete draft of its report, Radioisotope Power Systems: An Imperative for Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Space Exploration. A pre-publication version of the report was released in May 2009, followed by the printed report in July. The report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Radioisotope Power Systems says that the fiscal year (FY) 2010 federal budget should provide funding to the Department of Energy to reestablish production of Pu-238 as soon as possible. Accordingly, the administration’s FY 2010 and 2011 budget requests for the Department of Energy have included funds for Pu-238 production.
Membership*
William W. Hoover, Independent Consultant (co-chair)
Ralph L. McNutt, Jr., Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (co-chair)
Douglas M. Allen, Schafer Corporation
Samim Anghaie, University of Florida
Reta F. Beebe, New Mexico State University
Warren W. Buck, University of Washington
Beverly A. Cook, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Sergio B. Guarro, The Aerospace Corporation
Roger D. Launius, Smithsonian Institution
Frank B. McDonald, University of Maryland, College Park
Alan R. Newhouse, Independent Consultant
Joseph A. Sholtis, Jr., Sholtis Engineering and Safety Consulting
Spencer R. Titley, University of Arizona
Emanuel Tward, Northrop Grumman Space Technology
Earl Wahlquist, U.S. Department of Energy (retired)
Alan C. Angleman, Senior Program Officer, ASEB (study director)
Dwayne A. Day, Program Officer, SSB
Sarah M. Capote, Program Associate, ASEB (through November 2008)
Celeste A. Naylor, Senior Program Assistant, SSB (through January 2009)
Andrea M. Rebholz, Senior Program Assistant, ASEB (from February 2009)
RATIONALE AND GOALS FOR THE U.S. CIVIL SPACE PROGRAM
An ad hoc Committee on Rationale and Goals for the U.S. Civil Space Program was organized under the auspices of the SSB and the ASEB, with funding support from The National Academies Presidents’ Committee, to prepare a report to advise the nation on key goals and critical issues in 21st century U.S. civil space policy.
Following information-gathering and discussion meetings in 2008, the committee met on January 13-15, at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C., for discussions with outside experts regarding public interests and attitudes about space exploration, alternative exploration approaches, commercial and economic aspects of space activities, and the implications of two National Academies reports, Rising Above the Gathering Storm and Beyond “Fortress America,” for the committee’s task. Following the January meeting, the committee began to organize its study report. Work on the draft report continued, including a committee teleconference on February 13 and a March 2 meeting in Washington, D.C. The committee’s report, America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs, was submitted for external NRC review in April, released as a prepublication in July, and printed in September. The committee chair and both vice chairs testified at various congressional hearings where they summarized major conclusions from the report. The report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Membership*
Lester L. Lyles, The Lyles Group (chair)
Raymond S. Colladay, Lockheed Martin Astronautics (retired) (co-vice chair)
Lennard A. Fisk, University of Michigan (co-vice chair)
Jay Apt, Carnegie Mellon University
James B. Armor, Jr., The Armor Group, LLC
Wanda M. Austin, The Aerospace Corporation
David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology
Robert Bednarek, SES NEW SKIES
Joseph A. Burns, Cornell University
Pierre Chao, Renaissance Strategic Advisors
Kenneth S. Flamm, University of Texas, Austin
Joan Johnson-Freese, U.S. Naval War College
Paul D. Nielsen, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael S. Turner, University of Chicago
Thomas H. Vonder Haar, Colorado State University
George T. Whitesides,** National Space Society
Joseph K. Alexander, Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Brian D. Dewhurst, Program Officer, ASEB (through August)
Carmela J. Chamberlain, Administrative Coordinator, SSB
Lewis Groswald, Policy Intern, SSB
Victoria Swisher, Research Assistant, SSB (through August)
ROLE AND SCOPE OF MISSION-ENABLING ACTIVITIES IN NASA’S SPACE AND EARTH SCIENCE MISSIONS
The ad hoc Committee on the Role and Scope of Mission-Enabling Activities in NASA’s Space and Earth Science Missions was formed to provide strategic advice on activities that traditionally encompass much of NASA’s research and analysis programs and that include support for theory, modeling, and data analysis; suborbital flights and complementary ground-based programs; and advanced mission and instrumentation concept studies.
The committee met on January 21-23 at the National Academies’ Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California, and on March 11-13 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C., to gather
information from NASA program managers and other experts on aspects relevant to the study charge. At the March meeting the committee began to discuss approaches for responding to the study charge.
At its final meeting on May 20-23 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C., the committee discussed initial findings and recommendations and began work on the study report. The draft report was submitted for external NRC review in September and approved for release in November. A prepublication version of the report, An Enabling Foundation for NASA’s Earth and Space Science Missions, was delivered to NASA and congressional offices on November 30 and was released to the public on December 4. Final printed editions of the report were disseminated in February 2010. The report’s Summary is reprinted in Chapter 5.
Membership
Lennard A. Fisk, University of Michigan (chair)
Bruce H. Margon, University of California, Santa Cruz (vice chair)
Mark R. Abbott, Oregon State University
Steven J. Battel, Battel Engineering
Yvonne C. Brill, Independent Consultant
Donald E. Brownlee, University of Washington
Richard Chapas, Battelle Eastern Science and Technology Center
Martin H. Israel, Washington University
Conilee G. Kirkpatrick, HRL Laboratories, LLC
Jennifer A. Logan, Harvard University
Robyn Millan, Dartmouth College
Richard R. Paul, Boeing Phantom Works (retired)
Guenter Riegler, NASA Ames Research Center (retired)
Mark V. Sykes, Planetary Science Institute
Joseph K. Alexander, Senior Program Officer, SSB (study director)
Victoria Swisher, Research Associate, SSB (through August)
Linda M. Walker, Senior Project Assistant, SSB