An Assessment of Balance in NASA's Science Programs

An Assessment of Balance in NASA's Science Programs

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309102219
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 58

When the space exploration initiative was announced, Congress asked the NRC to review the science NASA proposed to carryout under the initiative. It also asked the NRC to assess whether this program would provide balanced scientific research across the established disciplines supported by NASA in addition to supporting the new initiative. In 2005, the NRC released three studies focusing on a portion of that task, but changes at NASA forced the postponement of the last phase. This report presents that last phase with an assessment of the health of the NASA scientific disciplines under the budget requests imposed by the exploration initiative. The report also provides an analysis of whether the science budget appropriately reflects cross-disciplinary scientific priorities.


NASA's Space Science Programs

NASA's Space Science Programs

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  • Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology (2007). Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Political Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 132


NASA's Science Programs

NASA's Science Programs

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  • Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology (2007). Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Political Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 108


NASA's Earth Science and Applications Programs

NASA's Earth Science and Applications Programs

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  • Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology (2007). Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
  • Publisher:
  • ISBN:
  • Category : Astronautics in earth sciences
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 108


Assessment of the NASA Applied Sciences Program

Assessment of the NASA Applied Sciences Program

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309179335
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 160

Remote sensing data and models from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are the basis for a wide spectrum of scientific research endeavors and are key inputs to many public and private services. The NASA Applied Sciences Program (ASP) and its precursors have been tasked with ensuring the extension of NASA Earth observation data and associated research into practical applications for society through external partnerships. With approximately five years having elapsed under the current ASP structure, and a growing government-wide emphasis on societal benefits in its Earth observing programs, NASA and the ASP leadership asked the National Research Council to assess ASP's approach in extending NASA research results to practical, societal applications. The report recommends that ASP partnerships should focus not only federal agencies but alsoon direct engagement of the broader community of users. The report also recommends that ASP enhance communication and feedback mechanisms with its partners, with the end users and beneficiaries of NASA data and research, and with the NASA organization.


A Performance Assessment of NASA's Astrophysics Program

A Performance Assessment of NASA's Astrophysics Program

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309104904
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 60

While a number of remarkable discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics have taken place over the past 20 years, many important questions remain. Continued progress in these fields will require NASA's leadership. To help determine if NASA can meet this challenge, Congress, in the 2005 NASA Authorization Act, directed the agency to have "[t]he performance of each division in the Science directorate...reviewed and assessed by the National Academy of Sciences at 5-year intervals." In early 2006, NASA asked the NRC to conduct such an assessment for the agency's Astrophysics Division. This report presents an assessment of how well NASA's current program addresses the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in previous Academy reports. The report provides an analysis of progress toward realizing these strategies, goals, and priorities; and a discussion of actions that could be taken to optimize the scientific value of the program in the context of current and forecasted resources.


Assessment of NASA's Mars Architecture 2007-2016

Assessment of NASA's Mars Architecture 2007-2016

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309102731
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 62

The United States and the former Soviet Union have sent spacecraft to mars as early as 1966, with Mars' exploration being priority for NASA spacecraft. Both sides, however, have failed as well as succeed. The inability to determine if life exists on Mars is considered one of NASA's failures and undercut political support for additional Mars missions in the U.S. until the launch of the Mars Observer in 1992. Thus, the exploration of life on Mars continues, but with a new approach. Assessment of NASA's Mars Architecture, 2007-2016 is an assessment by the Committee to Review the Next Decade Mars Architecture of the National Research Council (NRC) conducted by request of Dr. Mary Cleave, NASA's Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. The Committee addresses the following questions: Is the Mars architecture reflective of the strategies, priorities, and guidelines put forward by the National Research Council's solar system exploration decadal survey and related science strategies and NASA plans?, Does the revised Mars architecture address the goals of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and optimize the science return, given the current fiscal posture of the program?, and Does the Mars architecture represent a reasonably balanced mission portfolio? After several months of study, consideration and incorporation of the guidance from NRC studies, especially New Frontiers in the Solar System, and the Vision for Space Exploration; community consultations via individual inputs; and a MEPAG-sponsored working group, a plan was created. This report includes the plan, which has an Astrobiology Field Laboratory or two Mild Rovers mission planned for 2016, recommendations from the committee, NRC guidelines for mars exploration, and more.


Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program

Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309114926
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 100

The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 directed the agency to ask the NRC to assess the performance of each division in the NASA Science directorate at five-year intervals. In this connection, NASA requested the NRC to review the progress the Planetary Exploration Division has made in implementing recommendations from previous, relevant NRC studies. This book provides an assessment of NASA's progress in fulfilling those recommendations including an evaluation how well it is doing and of current trends. The book covers key science questions, flight missions, Mars exploration, research and analysis, and enabling technologies. Recommendations are provided for those areas in particular need of improvement.


NASA's Beyond Einstein Program

NASA's Beyond Einstein Program

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309111625
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 186

"Beyond Einstein science" is a term that applies to a set of new scientific challenges at the intersection of physics and astrophysics. Observations of the cosmos now have the potential to extend our basic physical laws beyond where 20th-century research left them. Such observations can provide stringent new tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity, indicate how to extend the Standard Model of elementary-particle physics, and-if direct measurements of gravitational waves were to be made-give astrophysics an entirely new way of observing the universe. In 2003, NASA, working with the astronomy and astrophysics communities, prepared a research roadmap entitled Beyond Einstein: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. This roadmap proposed that NASA undertake space missions in five areas in order to study dark energy, black holes, gravitational radiation, and the inflation of the early universe, to test Einstein's theory of gravitation. This study assesses the five proposed Beyond Einstein mission areas to determine potential scientific impact and technical readiness. Each mission is explored in great detail to aid decisions by NASA regarding both the ordering of the remaining missions and the investment strategy for future technology development within the Beyond Einstein Program.


An Enabling Foundation for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions

An Enabling Foundation for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions

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  • Author: National Research Council
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 0309148235
  • Category : Science
  • Languages : en
  • Pages : 76

NASA's space and Earth science program is composed of two principal components: spaceflight projects and mission-enabling activities. Most of the budget of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is applied to spaceflight missions, but NASA identifies nearly one quarter of the SMD budget as "mission enabling." The principal mission-enabling activities, which traditionally encompass much of NASA's research and analysis (R&A) programs, include support for basic research, theory, modeling, and data analysis; suborbital payloads and flights and complementary ground-based programs; advanced technology development; and advanced mission and instrumentation concept studies. While the R&A program is essential to the development and support of NASA's diverse set of space and Earth science missions, defining and articulating an appropriate scale for mission-enabling activities have posed a challenge throughout NASA's history. This volume identifies the appropriate roles for mission-enabling activities and metrics for assessing their effectiveness. Furthermore, the book evaluates how, from a strategic perspective, decisions should be made about balance between mission-related and mission-enabling elements of the overall program as well as balance between various elements within the mission-enabling component. Collectively, these efforts will help SMD to make a good program even better.