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NRC Astronomy & Astrophysics Activities

NRC Astronomy & Astrophysics Activities. Chuck Bennett, Co-Chair Committee on Astronomy & Astrophysics. CAA. CAA charge: to assess health of field and progress of Decadal Survey recommendations How to optimize next decadal survey?

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NRC Astronomy & Astrophysics Activities

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  1. NRCAstronomy & AstrophysicsActivities Chuck Bennett, Co-Chair Committee on Astronomy & Astrophysics

  2. CAA • CAA charge: to assess health of field and progress of Decadal Survey recommendations • How to optimize next decadal survey? • Ideas from astronomers, committees, agencies, OMB, OSTP  Identified some issues • NRC wants broad input, ideas, comments, suggestions from community • Town Meeting at AAS January 2007 • Town Meeting at APS April 2007 • Astro2010@nas.edu

  3. Meg Urry, Yale – co-chair Don Backer, UC Berkeley Mitch Begelman, U Colorado Tom Bogdan, NOAA Adam Burrows, U Arizona Alex Filippenko, UC Berkeley Chuck Bennett, JHU – co-chair Tim Heckman, JHU Lynne Hillenbrand, CalTech Charles McGruder, Western Kentucky Stephan Meyer, U Chicago Scott Tremaine, Princeton Jean Turner, UCLA CAA Roster

  4. Survey Issues • How to get effective input from entire community • Committee/Panel structure – e.g.,science vs. technique • Committee/Panel membership – Outsiders? • Cost estimates – beyond the WAG (toward ROM) • How to address uncompleted recommendations from previous surveys? • International coordination • Boundaries of astronomy & astrophysics • Flexibility, decision rules, intradecade maintenance • Structure of recommendations – prioritization across categories, e.g., space vs. ground, major vs. moderate, etc.)

  5. Survey Planning • BPA and SSB convened a planning meeting, Apr 28, 2007. • Goal was to provide NRC staff with general outlines, suitable for the proposal process. • NRC Governing Board will consider the plan on June 14. • If approved, the NRC then prepare proposals for NASA, NSF, and DOE.

  6. NRC A&A Studies • NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment (NAPA) • Released Feb 7, 2007. • NASA Astronomy Science Centers • In publication, release scheduled for June 2007 • Beyond Einstein Program Assessment Committee (BEPAC) • Underway; Sept 8, 2007 due date

  7. BPA Handbook of Frequency Allocations and Spectrum Protection for Scientific Uses (March, 2007) Scientific Opportunities with a Rare-Isotope Facility in the United States (April 2007) Plasma Physics 2010 (May 2007) Scientific Uses of the Radio Spectrum (1Q 2009) SSB Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System (March 2007) Decadal Science Strategy Surveys: Report of a Workshop (March 2007) Building a Better NASA Workforce (May 2007) Space Science Activities and ITAR: A Workshop to Promote Dialogue (Sept 12-13, 2007) Related NRC Studies

  8. Backup Charts

  9. CORF Handbook • Committee included: • Karen St. Germain (NOAA) - chair • David DeBoer (SETI Institute) – vice-chair • Lucy Ziurys (U Arizona) • Jim Moran (Harvard) • Paul Vanden Bout (NRAO) • The report does not make specific recommendations, but describes those radio frequencies used by radio astronomers and Earth remote sensing satellites (passive microwave remote sensing). • The report also describes the current spectrum policy apparatus. • http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11719

  10. Rare-Isotope Facility • Committee included: • John Ahearne (Sigma Xi and Duke) - co-chair • Stuart Freedman (UC Berkeley) – co-chair • Adam Burrows (U Arizona) • Stan Woosley (UC Santa Cruz) • The report does not recommend a specific course of action to U.S. policy makers but rather lays out the “scientific stakes” for a U.S. initiative in rare-isotope beam facilities. • The committee analyzed the scientific agenda, commented on the impact of a reduction in scope as compared to the Rare Isotope Accelerator, and examined the international context. • The committee identified four scientific and technological drivers for a rare-isotope beams facility. • The committee identified several key science drivers in nuclear structure, nuclear astrophysics, and fundamental symmetries of nature in addition to several key contributions to science and technology in other fields.” • http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11796

  11. Plasma 2010 • Committee includes: • Steve Cowley (UCLA) - co-chair • John Peoples (FermiLab) – co-chair • Eliot Quataert (UC Berkeley) • Statement of Task: • Assess the progress and achievements of plasma science over the past decade.
 • Identify the new opportunities and the compelling science questions for plasma science, frame the outlook for the future, and place the field in the context of physics as a whole. • Evaluate the opportunities and challenges for the applications of plasma science to fusion and other fields.
 • Offer guidance to the government research programs and the scientific communities aimed at addressing these challenges and realizing these opportunities. • http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bpa/PLS2010.html

  12. Radio Spectrum • Committee includes: • Marshall Cohen (CalTech) - co-chair • Al Gasiewski (U Colorado) – co-chair • Jim Moran (Harvard) • Lee Mundy (U Maryland) • Don Backer (UC Berkeley) • Aaron Evans (SUNY Stony Brook) • Darrel Emerson (NRAO) • Tim Pearson (CalTech) • Statement of Task: • Portray the science that is currently being conducted using the radio spectrum; • Identify the spectrum requirements necessary to conduct research; • Identify the anticipated future spectrum requirements for at least the next 10 years; and • Advise spectrum policy-makers on the value to the nation of accommodating scientific uses of the spectrum, recognizing the need to balance multiple communities. • http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bpa/Spectrum_Study_Home.html

  13. Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System • Committee included: • - James P. Ferris (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) – chair • - Karen J. Meech (U Hawaii) • - Keith S. Noll (Space Telescope Science Institute) • The committee invested the best research opportunities for enhancing understanding of organic material in the solar system by considering: 1) likelihood that significant organic material would be found, 2) feasibility of investigation, and 3) likely impact/significance of results. • The committee identified research strategies in its recommendations, recommended the establishment of an informal forum (like MEPAG), and reiterated the call from the New Frontiers report for support for planetary observations with ground-based telescopes • The committee also targeted research of Mars, Titan, Europa, and asteroids in its recommendations and recommended making Tagish Lake samples more widely available • http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11860

  14. Decadal Science Strategy Surveys: Report of a Workshop • Committee included: • Lennard Fisk (U Michigan) – chair • A. Thomas Young – vice chair • Jack D. Fellows – rapporteur • Craig Foltz (NSF) • Richard Howard (NASA) • The workshop addressed: 1) cost and technical risk, 2) resiliency and execution, 3) planning, management, and collaboration • Consensus appeared to be that composition of Decadal committees and approach to the survey should include a larger emphasis on cost estimating. Additionally, there was broad agreement that 2 years is roughly appropriate for completing a comprehensive survey and 10 years is an appropriate planning horizon. • Former survey committee chairs noted the survey charge must be “clear and focused, to avoid open-ended tasks, and should be vetted fully with the research community and relevant government agencies.” • http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11894

  15. Building a Better NASA Workforce • Committee included: • David C. Black (Universities Space Research Association) – co-chair • Daniel E. Hastings (MIT) – co-chair • The committee recommended that detailed data on NASA workforce requirements be collected for a better determination of workforce capabilities and needs, a coordinated national strategy for aerospace workforce development among relevant institutions be ensured, • The committee also recommended the support of University programs and hands-on opportunities at the college level, hiring and retaining younger workers within NASA, and that hands-on training opportunities be provided to NASA workers. • Additionally, the committee recommended the support of involvement in suborbital programs and nontraditional approaches to developing skills • http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11916

  16. Space Science Activities and ITAR: A Workshop to Promote Dialogue • Committee includes: • - Norman P. Neureiter (American Association for the Advancement of Science) - chair • - Margaret Finarelli (GMU) - rapporteur • - Claude R. Canizares (MIT) • The committee will: • identify concrete problems government, industry, and academic space science researchers, faculty, managers, and institutions face as a result of ITAR regulations; • determine the extent to which these problems are the result of the Department of State’s implementation of the regulations, or misunderstandings of what is required; and • suggest follow-on steps for addressing or further examining those problems. • http://www7.nationalacademies.org/ssb/ITAR2007Wkshp.html

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