Review of NASA Office of Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan: Letter Report (2003)

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ASSESSMENT OF NASA’S DRAFT 2003 SPACE SCIENCE ENTERPRISE STRATEGY 3 Assessment of NASA’s Draft 2003 Space Science Enterprise Strategy In a letter dated January 7, 2003 (Attachment 1), the NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science requested that the Space Studies Board (the Board) of the National Research Council (Attachment 2) review the draft “2003 Space Science Enterprise Strategy,”1 which NASA provided on February 7, 2003. In carrying out the requested review, the Board focused on the main areas listed in the letter of request: 1. Responsiveness to the NRC’s guidance on key science issues and to opportunities provided in recent science strategy reports, 2. Attention to interdisciplinary aspects and overall scientific balance, 3. Identification and exposition of important opportunities for education and public outreach, 4. Integration of technology development with the science program, and 5. General readability and clarity of presentation. INPUT USED IN PREPARING THE ASSESSMENT Detailed recommendations from the National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys and other recent reports provided important input to the Office of Space Science (OSS) planning process. The chairs of the Solar System Exploration Survey Committee, the Solar and Space Physics Survey Committee, the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Committee on the Physics of the Universe attended the OSS strategic planning workshop held in San Diego, California, November 7–8, 2002, and briefed the participants on the results of the decadal strategy reports.2 The Board director also presented the highlights of Life in the Universe: An Assessment of U.S. and International Programs in Astrobiology.3 This review of the OSS strategy document incorporates inputs received from relevant standing committees of the Board—the Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP), the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX), the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (COEL), and the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA). The Board also had an opportunity to discuss the strategy document with NASA staff at the Space Studies Board meeting on March 24, 2003, when Ms. Lisa May of the OSS provided a briefing on the draft document. The Board then reviewed and discussed the document, along with the discipline committees’ responses, and assembled this consensus assessment. The Board has organized its assessment into six categories in keeping with the charge: (1) general observations, (2) responsiveness to the NRC’s guidance on key science issues and opportunities, (3) interdisciplinary aspects and scientific balance, (4) integration of technology development with the science program, (5) opportunities for education and outreach, and (6) readability and clarity of presentation. The Board has