U.S. Astronomy and Astrophysics Managing an Integrated Program (2001) / Chapter Skim
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2 Current Roles and Relationships of NASA and NSF in Astronomy and Astrophysics
2 Current Roles and Relationships of NASA and NSF in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Pages 18-28
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From page 18... ...
. facilities," and "appoint such advisory committees as may be appropriate." The NASA year 2000 strategic plan addresses advancing space science, the exploration of space, and space technology.
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From page 19... ...
Typically, when cost growth has occurred during the development of a scientific mission, the mission specifications, including science goals, have been modified to keep the expected overall cost below a specified ceiling. The Office of Space Science maintains the federally chartered Space Science Advisory Committee under the auspices of the NASA Advisory Council.
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From page 20... ...
The committee notes that the agencies have never jointly asked for formal advice of any kind from the CAA, even though the decadal surveys are jointly commissioned. NSF The NSF Act of 1950 established NSF "to promote the progress of science; to advance the National health, prosperity, and welfare; (and)
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From page 21... ...
(The history of the instrumentation program is discussed in greater detail below in the section "Issues Affecting NASA and NSF Implementation of Decadal Survey Priorities.") In keeping with the prominence of education in its charter, NSF and its Astronomical Sciences Division strive to support researchers in small colleges and universities, which are a source of much of the scientific workforce.
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From page 22... ...
Community input to the Astronomical Sciences Division regarding scientific direction comes from the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate advisory committee and the NRC's Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics. The Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics can provide, as described above, a forum for NASA-NSF coordination at a strategic policy level, although the NRC's rigorous and lengthy review and approval process limits rapid responses for more immediate tactical advice.
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From page 24... ...
There are exceptions, of course, on the level of interactions between individual program officers and discipline scientists, but even these are rare. The committee was surprised to learn, for example, that the current head of NASA's Office of Space Science and the current head of NSF's Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate have never met with each other to discuss their respective program plans.
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From page 25... ...
C-RENT RO[ES ~~ RE[~S OF USE ~~ ~F 23 WOES APPECTINC NASA AND NSE I~PLE~ENTATION OF DECADAL SORVEY PRIORIDES NASA~1th important 1nternabonal contr~ut10ns from' for examp~' Europe' Japan' and Canada~as been quad success in 1mplementing the large space 1n1hadves recommended in Me decadal surveys. Nearly aU of We missions recommended in the current decadal survey
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From page 26... ...
Large space missions recommended in past and current decadal surveys (e.g., the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, and the Next Generation Space Telescope) almost always experience significant cost growth as a result of formidable technical challenges and other issues.
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From page 27... ...
Thus, the fraction of the Astronomical Sciences Division's budget available for unsolicited grants to university investigators is relatively small. Addressing this imbalance was recommended as the top priority overall by the 1990s decadal survey, but it has not been possible for the Astronomical Sciences Division to do so within present budget constraints.
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From page 28... ...
It also recommended that the independent observatories offer observing time to individuals not affiliated with the sponsoring universities in return for this funding. The plan was referred to as the Facilities Instrumentation Program.7 Although the original instrumentation plan was not considered to be a success because of the limited participation by the private and state observatories, the most recent survey committee and its optical/ infrared panels strongly endorsed the fundamental tenets of this instrumentation program as a way of increasing the overall research infrastructure for the discipline.
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