Space Studies Board Annual Report 2000 (2001) / Chapter Skim
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4. Short Reports
4. Short Reports
Pages 93-145
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From page 93... ...
Triana is a flight opportunity to extend and improve observation of the solar wind and space weather at a most meaningful site, supplementing the data from the Advanced Composition Explorer satellite. A detailed analysis of instrumentation, data collection and reduction, systems operation, and management was beyond the scope of the task group's effort and was precluded by the time and budgetary constraints placed on the preparation of this report.
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From page 94... ...
In the attached more detailed technical assessment, the task group relates Triana's scientific objectives and deliverable data products to the research strategies and priorities proposed in earlier National Research Council and government reports. The task group found that the scientific goals and objectives of the Triana mission are consonant with published science strategies and priorities for collection of climate data sets and the need for development of new technologies.
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From page 95... ...
Maruyama, "The NOAA Real-Time Solar Wind (RTSW) System Using ACE Data," Space Science Reviews 86:633-648, 1998.
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From page 96... ...
, and therefore increase researchers' understanding of how much of the Sun's energy is absorbed in the atmosphere. In addition to Earth-viewing instruments, Triana includes an instrument package designed to measure solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field at L1.
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From page 97... ...
. The Triana science team intends to calibrate this instrument before it is launched and to track its calibration in flight when the camera views the far side of the Moon as it comes between L1 and Earth.
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From page 98... ...
Korth, "Hydra - A 3-Dimensional Electron and Ion Hot Plasma Instrument for the Polar Spacecraft of the GGS Mission," Space Science Reviews 71(1/4) :459-495, February 1995.
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From page 99... ...
The Triana science team prefers this scenario, as it will improve the quality and area of continuous measurement of ozone in the arctic. Data Processing and Distribution Triana's primary data products, as reported by the Triana science team, are shown in Table 2.
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From page 100... ...
See the key below for corresponding full references. One of the ways the task group addressed the issue of whether the Triana mission and goals are consonant with published science strategies was to compare Triana's primary data products as defined by the science team with priorities in relevant NRC and government reports.
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From page 101... ...
The goals and objectives of the Triana mission fall within two general categories: (1) to launch a modest exploratory mission to demonstrate the value of remote sensing observations from L1 for Earth science and (2)
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From page 102... ...
Space Studies Board, National Research Council, Earth Observations from Space: History, Promise, and Reality, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1995. Space Studies Board, National Research Council, An Assessment of the Solar and Space Physics Aspects of NASA's Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1997.
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From page 103... ...
. However, if the ACE spacecraft is lost or its plasma or magnetometer instrument fails, then Triana as the only upstream monitor of solar wind and interplanetary magnetic fields could be critical to the Space Environment Center' s mission.
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From page 104... ...
study the large-scale solar wind structures using multipoint and correlative observations from complementary space environment missions (ACE, WIND, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory [STEREO]
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From page 105... ...
The availability of real-time solar wind data from L1 spacecraft at two separate points in space would enhance the reliability of detecting the geoeffectiveness of disturbances not directly on the Sun-Earth line by providing additional information about the irregularities in the solar wind. Data Products The main advantage of Triana is that it will view the full sunlit disk of Earth, continuously and synoptically.
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From page 106... ...
With regard to the generation of atmospheric data products besides ozone (aerosol optical depth, total precipitable water) , one issue of concern is the determination of cloud data in pixels that are only partially cloudy across their areas.
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From page 107... ...
The scientific success of the Triana mission will be judged, in large part, on the quality of the initial data delivered to the scientific community. The task group therefore recommends that NASA seriously consider increasing as soon as possible the level of effort invested in development and testing of data reduction algorithms for the core Earth data products.
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From page 108... ...
the Triana mission will complement and enhance data from other missions now in operation or in development because of the unique character of the measurements obtainable at the L1 point in space, which allows continuous imaging of the full sunlit disk of Earth and monitoring of the space environment upstream from Earth. Nevertheless, the task group recommends that NASA seriously consider increasing the level of effort invested in development and testing of data reduction algorithms for the core Earth data products as soon as possible and ensure that all the appropriate technical and management reviews are performed.
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From page 109... ...
It received presentations by Edward Weller (Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science) , Granville Paules (Lead Technologist, Earth Science Enterprise)
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From page 110... ...
appropriately scoped, scheduled and funded to satisfy the strategic missions and visions of the Space Science Enterprise? NASA has produced integrated technology development plans for enabling technologies.
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From page 111... ...
Subsidizing the use of new technologies on science missions even though the enhanced capabilities of the new technologies are not needed could be appropriate where flight validations of the new technologies have significant value for future missions. For example, it might prove a wise investment to use a new technology communication system that will be needed for future deep-space science missions on a low-cost near-Earth spacecraft even though the capabilities of the enhanced communications system are not needed on the near-Earth mission.
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From page 112... ...
The task group did hear views from the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and, while these presentations were interesting, there was no evidence of agency-wide guidance or direction to the process of selecting (and de-selecting) and maintaining core competencies.
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From page 113... ...
in space science and technology. Thus the selection of NASA' s core competencies must be made with a sense of responsibility to the nation's technological health and not just to the "care and feeding" of NASA Centers.
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From page 114... ...
However, if the Center decides to buy, then NASA should avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest by either administering the competition and external review from Headquarters or excluding from the competition all in-house organizations located at that Center. A Center decision to "make" should have Headquarters concurrence.
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From page 115... ...
Recommendation 6. NASA should ensure that adequate resources, especially personnel, are available for Headquarters to organize, conduct, and respond to the needed number of external reviews to support competitive ATD procurements.
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From page 116... ...
External reviews were cited for all major program elements, including the New Millennium Program, the Cross-Enterprise Technology Development Program, and the Focused Programs. Task Group*
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From page 117... ...
Fink, Chair Task Group on Technology Development in NASA's Office of Space Science
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From page 118... ...
Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) on a number of issues concerning the Science and Mission Roadmapi recently prepared as part of the Solar System Exploration science theme's contribution to strategic-planning activities conducted by NASA's Of lice of Space Science.
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From page 119... ...
In its 1996 assessment of the Solar System Exploration Roadmap, COMPLEX commented that it is "important for the Roadmap's scientific objectives to be brought into sharper focus with some indication of priorities for study and critical measurements to be made."3 Through a combination of the factors listed above, the new Roadmap's scientific objectives have become even more diffuse than they were in the 1996 edition. Given the structural deficiencies in the current Roadmap, COMPLEX reiterates its 1996 recommendation that this document must clearly indicate scientific objectives and the critical measurements that must be made to meet these objectives, describe how existing or proposed missions will make these measurements, and indicate relative priorities.
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From page 120... ...
The second was to make recommendations for strengthening the Roadmap's scientific rationale and mission priorities. ELEMENTS OF THE ROADMAP The preparation of roadmaps is a key aspect of the strategic planning process currently adopted by NASA's Office of Space Science (OSS)
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From page 121... ...
Additionally, with the exception of the Mars Surveyor line, the rationale for prioritization of goals and missions is absent both within and between mission lines. This apparent anonymity of the text is in marked contrast to the previous edition of the Roadmap, which explicitly included material on how the document was created and by whom it was written, a factor COMPLEX regarded as a plus in its 1996 review.5 Without more information on the process used to draft the Roadmap, COMPLEX cannot comment on its fairness or credibility.
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From page 122... ...
Given COMPLEX's preference for exploration programs formulated in terms of key physical and chemical processes rather than distance from the Sun,~4 it believes that this mission line would be more compelling if explicitly directed toward the study of organic environments wherever they are found. Mars Surveyor Intensive exploration of Mars has long been identified as a high-priority activity by CoMPLEX,~5 and the committee is encouraged to see that Mars Surveyor and, in particular, the Mars sample-return program are featured prominently in the Roadmap.
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From page 123... ...
The basic scientific issues this line is designed to address are, however, important items identified in past NRC reports.25 26 Moreover, the first mission in the line, Comet Nucleus Sample Return, is consistent with prior advice from COMPLEX. Indeed, such a mission addresses the highest-priority goals identified in COMPLEX's Integrated Strategy.27 COMPLEX's most serious problem with this new line is that the suite of proposed missions lacks coherence and seems to be a catchall for large missions.
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From page 124... ...
More importantly, the Roadmap's discussion of the linkages between the exploration of the solar system and Astrobiology in the context of the "Quests" rather than in the context of the "Integration of Space Science" (pages 107-111) could suggest that Astrobiology has a special status.
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From page 125... ...
Given the deficiencies in the current Roadmap, COMPLEX reiterates the recommendation made in its assessment of the Roadmap's 1996 edition that this document must clearly indicate scientific objectives and the critical measurements that must be made to meet these objectives, must describe how existing or proposed missions will make these measurements, and must indicate relative priorities.34 Therefore COMPLEX recommends that the next Roadmap team be tasked to define a more scientifically compelling rationale for solar system exploration than that currently provided by the three Quests. Such a restructuring is far beyond the scope of this brief report.
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From page 126... ...
respace Studies Board, National Research Council, Space Science in the Twenty-First Century: Imperatives for the Decades 1995-2015 Solar and Space Physics, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1988, pages 41-43. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, An Interstellar Precursor Mission, JPL77-70, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, 1977.
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From page 127... ...
23Space Studies Board, National Research Council, The Role of Small Missions in Planetary and Lunar Exploration, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1995, page 27. 24Space Studies Board, National Research CounciL Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for Earth and Space Science Missions, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2000 (in press)
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From page 128... ...
Further, as explained below, the Board found the sections on recent accomplishments, the current program, and the flight program for 2003 and beyond to be particularly useful. Elements of a Strategic Plan Although the draft document is called "The Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan," it lacks, in fact, some key characteristics of a strategic plan.
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From page 129... ...
Furthermore, a long-standing question within NASA has concerned the extent to which universities should be considered to be vendors, sources of members of the technical workforce, integral partners, or some mix of those roles (4~. The OSS plan could be strengthened by more clearly recognizing that the universities are elements of the fabric of space science and that their capabilities also need to be nurtured.
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From page 130... ...
The importance of this aspect of all space missions has been emphasized repeatedly in prior reports (12~. The OSS draft plan should reflect a clearer sense of the priorities for R&DA, the linkages between R&DA and other parts of the OSS program, and the overall importance of R&DA in the space science enterprise.
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From page 131... ...
about how NASA's Space Science Enterprise and the Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise will work together to make this vision feasible. Furthermore, it does not present a cogent view about what balance is expected between the roles of humans and robotic systems in the future.
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From page 132... ...
This discussion should communicate OSS's sense of the impact of the astrobiology initiative on the R&A program, on analysis of data from current missions, and on planning of future missions. It should also provide a projection into the medium-term future of the extent to which OSS expects to see astrobiology grow compared with other disciplines of space science and a projection of the relative roles and importance of the Astrobiology Institute, the proposed National Astrobiology Laboratory, and distributed astrobiology R&A efforts.
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From page 133... ...
The Board hopes that these recommendations will be of help in revising the OSS draft strategic plan and looks forward to working with you to further strengthen space science. Signed by Claude R
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From page 134... ...
13. For example, see Space Studies Board, National Research Council, Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for Earth and Space Science Missions, 2000, in press, and Board on Physics and Astronomy and Space Studies Board, National Research Council, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, 2000, in press.
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From page 135... ...
, Evaluating the Biological Potential in Samples Returnedfrom Planetary Satellites and Small Solar System Bodies [1998] , A Science Strategy for the Exploration of Europa [1999]
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From page 136... ...
With respect to scientific priorities they afford, COMPLEX believes that the most important of the venous options being considered by the Galileo Project are a conservative trajectory leading to a close flyby of the small moon Almathea, a series of less conservative trajectories leading to one or more polar flybys of Io, and, possibly, a flyby of Almathea as well.2 Given this choice, COMPLEX believes that the Io flybys have the greatest potential for providing important scientific results because they directly address the processes responsible for the active generation of planetary magnetic fields, a key question outlined in COMPLEX's Integrated Strategy.3 With respect to issues arising from possible conflicts between planetary-protection requirements and scientific opportunities, COMPLEX recognizes that its preference for an Io flyby requires the selection of one of the less conservative trajectory options. That is, choosing the Io encounters postpones for approximately 1 year Galileo's placement on a ballistic trajectory into Jupiter and thus increases the chance that the spacecraft may suffer a fatal failure and end up on an unintended trajectory.
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From page 137... ...
Rummel, NASA' s Planetary Protection Officer. COMPLEX was asked to provide "findings, conclusions, and recommendations" about the various end-ofmission options currently being considered by the Galileo Project.
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From page 138... ...
But any free3Space Studies Board, National Research Council, Evaluating the Biological Potential in Samples Returnedfrom Planetary Satellites and Small Solar System Bodies—Framework for Decision Making, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1998, pages 31-77. 4Space Studies Board, National Research Council, A Science Strategy for the Exploration of Europa, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1999, pages 3, 22-23, 26-27, and 64.
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From page 139... ...
in either September or November 2002. respace Science Board, National Research Council, Recommendations on Planetary Quarantine Policy for Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Titan, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1978, pages 14-15.
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From page 140... ...
Moreover, valuable remote-sensing opportunities exist during polar flybys for Galileo's imaging, NIMS, and photopolarimeter-radiometer instruments, following up on the array of discoveries made during Galileo's previous close flybys of Ion i6 i7 If a choice must be made between flybys of Amalthea and lo, COMPLEX believes that scientific priority should be given to the latter because it has the greatest potential for providing important results. This is the case because the Io encounter or encounters will directly address the processes responsible for the active generation of planetary magnetic fields, a key question outlined in COMPLEX' s Integrated Strategy.
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From page 141... ...
Short Reports 141 respace Studies Board, National Research Council, Preventing the Forward Contamination of Europa, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2000, Appendix.
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From page 142... ...
has conducted a brief review of actions taken by the Office of Space Science (OSS) that are relevant to recommendations in the Board's 1998 report Supporting Research and Data Analysis in NASA's Science Programs: Engines for Innovation and Synthesis.
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From page 143... ...
For example, the document does not explicitly discuss how choices were or are made in setting priorities, and it does not identify priorities for missions or other program elements that are presented in the plan....4 Regarding the integration of R&DA into that strategic plan, the Board's May 2000 report said: The OSS draft plan should reflect a clearer sense of the priorities for R&DA, the linkages between R&DA and other parts of the OSS program, and the overall importance of R&DA in the space science enterprise. Finally, also needed is a more explicit discussion of the OSS strategy for achieving balance between flight mission development, supporting ground and suborbital research, theory and modeling, and data analysis....5 The Board is aware of OSS's plans to institute a new senior review process for evaluating the research grants program (Appendix D)
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From page 144... ...
25, and Space Studies Board, National Research Council, "Continuing Assessment of Technology Development in NASA's Office of Space Science," March 15, 2000, p.
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From page 145... ...
2526, and Space Studies Board, National Research Council, "Continuing Assessment of Technology Development in NASA's Office of Space Science," March 15, 2000, p.
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