The Decade of Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics (1991) / Chapter Skim
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7. Policy Opportunities
7. Policy Opportunities
Pages 110-120
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From page 110... ...
How can astronomers, returning value to the nation, contribute to the national effort to improve science education and to stimulate interest in science or engineering as an attractive career? What is the proper balance between construction of new facilities, the maintenance and refurbishment of existing facilities, and support of individual researchers?
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From page 111... ...
Through the Division of Polar Programs, the NSF supported an innovative research program that exploits the unique advantages of the South Pole for astronomy, and through the Physics Division, NSF carried out major programs in particle astrophysics such as the Fly's Eye telescope, the Chicago Airshower Array (CASA) project, and theoretical investigations.
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From page 112... ...
NASA's Astrophysics Division supported important international collaborations on European, Japanese, and Soviet missions and began modernizing the university infrastructure necessary for research. The growth of the NASA grants program during the 1980s tracked the overall growth of the number of astronomers (Appendix B)
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From page 113... ...
Naval Observatory, development of space instrumentation by the Naval Research Laboratory, innovations in infrared detector technology by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and cryogenic and adaptive optics technologies developed as a result of the Strategic Defense Initiative. New opportunities exist for synergism between astronomical research and the nation's defense needs.
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From page 114... ...
The committee suggests that one of the national astronomy research centers act, in cooperation with the appropriate agencies and other major astronomical institutions, as the organizer and coordinator of the Astronomy Fellowship program. · The committee recommends that the American Astronomical Society establish an annual prize in recognition of outstanding contributions to secondary or college science education.
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From page 115... ...
. In addition to the recommendations made above, the committee urges astronomers to take personal action to improve science education in their communities through presentations at local schools and by visits of students to nearby astronomical facilities.
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From page 116... ...
The committee has expressed its view in Chapter 1 that the highest funding priority for the 1990s in ground-based astronomy is restoring support for the scientific infrastructure, especially for grants to individual researchers and for maintenance and refurbishment of frontier national facilities. The number of U.S.
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From page 117... ...
The manufacturing flaw in the HST mirrors constitutes a sober lesson, but HST problems must be viewed alongside a list of stunning successes in other complex missions such as the Viking and Voyager planetary flybys and the High-Energy Astronomical Observatory (HEAD) program, including the Einstein Observatory.
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From page 118... ...
In addition to the management issues just cited, the National Research Council studies of the Explorer program called for a return to missions with welldefined scientific objectives, careful attention to mission cost in the selection process, and appropriate levels of formal requirements for reliability and quality assurance. The High-Energy Transit Experiment (METE; a shuttle-launched satellite package for detecting gamma rays)
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From page 119... ...
The committee believes that this serial approach involves a significant risk for long and expensive delays, reduces mission lifetime, and restricts projects to low-earth, Shuttleaccessible orbits. The committee's highest-priority moderate space initiative is, as discussed in Chapter 1, an independent spacecraft for FUSE, which would obviate dependence on the single, reusable Explorer platform and would enhance science opportunities for the FUSE mission.
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From page 120... ...
· The committee recommends that international cooperation be considered for the development of a major initiative if such a project draws on complementary capabilities of different nations or requires resources beyond those that can be provided by the \United States alone.
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