Review of Goals and Plans for NASA's Space and Earth Sciences (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-6
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If science in pursuit of the exploration vision is to be aligned with the priorities set forth by the scientific community in NRC decadal survey reports, it will be essential for NASA to embrace the broadly based science program that has been recommended by the 2004 report of the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Policy5 and the principles articulated in the 2005 Space Studies Board report Science in NASA's Vision for Space Exploration.6 Also, much more should be done to coordinate planning across the various roadmaps and with other federal agencies. The short timescale for writing the roadmaps and the lack of community input may have contributed to these shortcomings.
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The panel agrees with the breakdown of goals listed in the roadmap and notes that they are consistent with, and support, the goals outlined in the NRC solar system decadal survey. However, the roadmap uses the concept of planetary habitability as its basic premise for scientific exploration, but it does not clearly articulate how the planned investigations will address planetary habitability and how each proposed mission will build on previous mission results.
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Recognizing the strong message from the NRC Earth sciences decadal survey interim report that "NASA must retain Earth science as a central priority, to support critical improvements in understanding the planet and developing useful applications,"17 the panel recommends that NASA strongly support the Earth science program independent of its involvement in the vision for space exploration. Sun-Solar System Connection The Sun-Solar System Connection roadmap18 is a well thought out document that succeeds in placing many science objectives into the context of the vision for space exploration.
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Program Span, Diversity, Stability, and Flexibility The integrated science program constructed by NASA based on these roadmaps should have characteristics such that all major scientific disciplines can make progress toward their goals as established in NRC decadal surveys or other similar reports. The program should be discovery driven and not rigid, allowing exciting new discoveries to be rapidly accommodated in a program plan, and should include the broad scientific community's involvement in the decision process.
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Cooperative missions with other nations have provided direct scientific benefits to both the United States and the other cooperating nations. Although the panel recognizes that international cooperation can have its negative aspects as well, the subject should receive serious explicit attention.
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The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.
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