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OCR for page 1
Charter and Organization of the Board
THE ORIGINS OF THE SPACE SCIENCE BOARD
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was chartered by Congress, under the leadership of President
Abraham Lincoln, to provide scientific and technical advice to the government of the United States. Over the years,
the advisory program of the institution has expanded, leading in the course of time to the establishment of the
National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Institute of Medicine, and of the National Research Council
(NEC), the operational arm of the National Academies.
The original charter of the Space Science Board was established in June 1958, three months before final
legislation creating NASA was enacted. The Space Science Board and its successor, the Space Studies Board
(SSB), have provided expert external and independent scientific and programmatic advice to NASA on a continu-
ous basis from NASA's inception until the present.
The fundamental charter of the Board today remains that defined by National Academy of Sciences President
Detlev W. Bronk in a letter to Lloyd V. Berkner, first chair of the Board, on June 26, 1958:
We have talked of the main task of the Board in three parts the immediate program, the long-range program, and
the international aspects of both. In all three we shall look to the Board to be the focus of the interests end responsibilities
of the Academy-Research Council in space science; to establish necessary relationships with civilian science and with
governmental science activities, particularly the proposed new space agency, the National Science Foundation, and the
Advanced Research Projects Agency; to represent the Academy-Research Council complex in our international relations
in this field on behalf of American science and scientists; to seek ways to stimulate needed research; to promote necessary
coordination of scientific effort; and to provide such advice and recommendations to appropriate individuals and
agencies with regard to space science as may in the Board's judgment be desirable.
As we have already agreed, the Board is intended to be an advisory, consultative, correlating, evaluating body and
not an operating agency in the field of space science. It should avoid responsibility as a Board for the conduct of any
programs of space research and for the formulation of budgets relative thereto. Advice to agencies properly responsible
for these matters, on the other hand, would be within its purview to provide.
Thus, the Space Studies Board exists to provide an independent, authoritative forum for information and advice
on all aspects of space science and applications. It conducts advisory studies and program assessments, facilitates
international research coordination, and promotes communications on space science and science policy between the
research community, the federal government, and the interested public. With the reconstitution of the Board in
1988, it assumed similar responsibilities with respect to space applications.
OCR for page 2
2
Space Studies Board Annual Report 2003
THE SPACE STUDIES BOARD TODAY
The Space Studies Board is a unit of the NRC's Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences (DEPS), and it
reports to the Division for oversight. DEPS is one of six major program units of the NRC through which the
institution conducts its operations on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of
Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. Within DEPS there are a total of 14 boards that cover a broad range of
physical science and engineering disciplines and mission areas.
Members of the DEPS Committee on Engineering and Physical Sciences provide advice on Board membership
and advise on proposed new projects to be undertaken by the Board or its committees. Every 3 years the DEPS
Committee also reviews the overall operations of each of its boards. The last review of the SSB was in 2001.
The Board meets three times per year to review the activities of its committees and task groups and to be briefed
on and discuss major space policy issues. An internal executive committee composed of seven at-large members of
the Board meets at least once a year and may convene via conference call at other times to plan for SSB activities
and to advise the chair between meetings. All projects proposed to be conducted by standing committees or ad hoc
task groups must first be reviewed and approved by the Board or its executive committee, and the Board monitors
the progress of the projects throughout the course of the studies.
MAJOR FUNCTIONS
The Board's overall advisory charter is implemented through three key functions: discipline oversight,
interdisciplinary studies, and international activities.
Oversight of Space Research Disciplines
The Board has responsibility for scientific planning and oversight in the basic subdisciplines of space research.
This responsibility is discharged through a structure of discipline-oriented committees. The standard vehicle for
providing long-term research guidance is the research strategy report. In addition, committees periodically prepare
formal assessment reports that examine progress in their disciplines in comparison with published NRC advice.
From time to time, in response to a sponsor or Board request or to circumstances requiring prompt and focused
comment, a committee may prepare a short, or "letter," report. Individual discipline committees may be called upon
by the Board to prepare specialized material for use by either the Board or its interdisciplinary committees or task
groups.
Interdisciplinary Studies
Although the emphasis traditionally has been on discipline planning and evaluation, the Board also recognizes
a need for crosscutting technical and policy studies. To accomplish these objectives, the Board creates ad hoc task
groups or internal committees. Task groups resemble standing committees in structure and operation, except that
they have Redefined lifetimes, typically 1 to 3 years, and more narrowly bounded charters. Internal committees,
constituted entirely of appointed Board members, are formed to conduct short-duration studies or to lay the
planning groundwork for subsequent formation of a regular committee or task group. The Board also organizes
topical workshops and exercises the NRC's convening function in other special activities.
International Representation and Cooperation
The Board serves as the U.S. National Committee for the International Council for Science (ICSU) Committee
on Space Research (COSPAR), an international, multidisciplinary forum for exchanging space science research.
The current Board-appointed U.S. representative to COSPAR is also COSPAR vice president and thereby
participates in the oversight of COSPAR's business, finances, and operations as a member of the COSPAR Bureau.
A member of the Board's staff serves as executive secretary for the U.S. National Committee.
The Board, on occasion, conducts informal information exchange sessions with national entities such as Japan
and China within COSPAR scientific assemblies. Board members may individually participate in COSPAR
scientific sessions to present their research or, occasionally, to present the results of an SSB report to the
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Charter arid Orgar~izatior' of the Board
3
international community. The Board has a regular practice of exchanging observers with the European Space
Science Committee (ESSC), an entity of the European Science Foundation. The Board has successfully collaborat-
ed with ESSC on a number of ad hoc joint studies. It has also collaborated with the Space Research Committee of
the former Japan Science Council. The Board has closely monitored developments for example, U.S. implemen-
tation of export controls that have implications for international scientific cooperation.
ORGANIZATION
The organization of the SSB in 2003 is illustrated in Figure 1.1. Tal~en together the Board and its committees
and task groups held a total of 29 meetings during the year.
The Space Studies Board
The Board itself is composed of 27 prominent scientists, engineers, industrialists, scholars, and policy experts
in space research, appointed for staggered 3-year terms. The Board is constituted in such a way as to include its
standing committee chairs as members; other Board members serve on internal committees or perform other special
functions as designated by the Board chair. The Board seats the chair of the Aeronautics and Space Engineering
Board (ASEB) and the U.S. representative to COSPAR as ex officio members. A standing liaison arrangement also
has been established with the chair of the ESSC.
u.s.
Representative
to COSPAR
Space Stuclies Boarcl
Executive
Committee
Standing
Committees
Task Group on
Research on the
International
Space Station
Ad Hoc
Task
Groups
Extended Pl-Led
Earth Earth
Observing Science
Missions Missions
Solar and
Space
Physics
Survey
Heliospheric
Physics
Workshop
Preventing the
Forward
Contamination
of Mars
~ ,.,.,.'
on Space on C°momnittee Solar and
Biology Microgravity Earth Space
and Research Studies Physics
Medicine l l
1
Committee on
Planetary and
Lunar Exploration
1
Space Science
Review
Earth Science
Strategy
Review
Space
Applications and
Commercialization
FIGURE 1.1 Organization of the Space Studies Board and its committees and task groups. Shaded boxes denote activities
performed in cooperation with other N~C units.
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4
Space Studies Board Annual Report 2003
Internal Committees of the Board
Internal committees, composed entirely of Board members, facilitate the conduct of the Board's business, carry
out the Board's own advisory projects, and permit the Board to move rapidly to lay the groundwork for new study
activities. One such internal committee is the Board's Executive Committee, composed of one member from each
· l- · 1 -
maJor alsclplme area.
Standing Committees
Standing discipline committees are the means by which the Board conducts its oversight of space research
disciplines. Each discipline committee is composed of about a dozen specialists, appointed to represent the broad
sweep of research areas within the discipline. In addition to assisting in developing long-range research strategies
and formal program and progress assessments in terms of these strategies, the standing committees sometimes
organize ad hoc studies and provide oversight of the task groups created to conduct such studies. They also perform
analysis tasks in support of interdisciplinary task groups and committees or in response to other requirements
assigned by the Board. The standing committees in 2003 were as follows:
Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA)
Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX)
Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP)
Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (COEL)
Committee on Earth Studies (CES)
Committee on Space Biology and Medicine (CSBM)
Committee on Microgravity Research (CMGR)
Task Groups
Ad hoc task groups are created by NRC action at the Board's request. Fourteen task groups or ad hoc
committees were in place in 2003. The CSBM Task Group on Research on the International Space Station,
Committee on Space Applications and Commercialization, Solar and Space Physics Survey Committee, and
Committee on NASA-NOAA Transition from Research to Operations all completed their work during 2003. The
Task Group on Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System, COEL Committee on the Astrophysical
Context of Life, and Committee on Environmental Satellite Data Utilization continued their work in 2003. The
CES Committee on Extended Earth Observing Missions, CSSP Heliospheric Physics Workshop Committee, SSB/
ASEB Space Policy Workshop Committee, SSB Space Science Strategy Review Committee, Earth Science
Strategy Review Committee, and Committee on Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars were all estab-
lished during 2003.
WORKSHOPS, SYMPOSIA, AND SPECIAL PROJECTS
Topical workshops or symposia occasionally provide the most effective vehicle for addressing certain needs of
the government or the research community. In 2003, the SSB and ASEB jointly organized a project-scoping
workshop on large optical systems in space and a workshop on national space policy. In addition, the SSB
Committee on Solar and Space Physics organized a workshop on exploration of the outer heliosphere.
DISSEMINATION
Formal reports delivered to government sponsors constitute one of the primary products of the work of the
SSB, but the dissemination process has a number of other important elements. The Board is always seeking ways to
ensure that its work reaches the broadest possible appropriate audience and that it has the largest beneficial impact.
Copies of reports are routinely provided to key executive branch officials, members and staffs of relevant
congressional committees, and members of other interested NRC and federal advisory bodies. Members of the
press are notified about the release of each new report, and the Board maintains a substantial mailing list for
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Charter arid Orgar~izatior' of the Board
s
distribution of reports to members of the space research community. The SSB publishes the executive summaries of
all new reports in its quarterly newsletter, which is made widely available, both by mail and by e-mail. The Board
also offers briefings by committee chairs and members or SSB staff to agency officials and scientific societies.
Reports are posted on the SSB Web home page at www.nationalacademies.org/ssb/ssb.html and linked to the
institution's site for reports at www.nap.edu. The SSB teamed with other NRC units to exhibit and distribute copies
of recent reports at the January 2003 meeting of the American Astronomical Society and the December meeting of
the American Geophysical Union. In 2003, the SSB also secured NRC funds to support two special dissemination
projects (1) presentations about new reports on the applications of remote sensing at meetings of state and local
government organizations and (2) a publication for lay audiences on the decadal solar system exploration strategy
survey report.
COLLABORATION WITH OTHER NItC UNITS
Much of the work of the Board involves topics that fall entirely within its principal areas of responsibility and
can be addressed readily by its members and committees. However, there are other situations in which the need for
breadth of expertise, alternative points of view, or synergy with other NRC projects lead to compelling arguments
for collaboration with other units of the NRC. The Space Studies Board has been engaged in many such multiunit
collaborations, and the increasingly interdisciplinary, multidimensional character of contemporary science and
technology is likely to lead to more cross-NRC activities. This approach to projects has the potential to bring more
of the full capability of the National Academies to bear in preparing advice for the government. Multiunit
collaborative projects also present new challenges namely, to manage the projects in a way that achieves
economies of scale and true synergy rather than just adding cost or complexity. Collaborative relationships between
the SSB and other NRC units during 2003 are illustrated in Figure 1.1.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
space studies
