Space Studies Board Annual Report 2005 (2006)

The Space Studies Board is part of the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences of the National Research Council. In 2005, it had seven standing committees representing various disciplines: the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (jointly with the Board on Physics and Astronomy), the Committee on Earth Studies, the Committee on Microgravity Research, the Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (jointly with the Board on Life Sciences), the Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration, the Committee on Solar and Space Physics, and the Committee on Space Biology and Medicine. The Board and its standing committees provide strategic direction and oversee activities of ad hoc study committees (see next chapter), interact with sponsors, and serve as a communications medium between the government and the scientific community. They do not provide formal advice and recommendations, and therefore are not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Sec. 15.

Lennard A. Fisk, University of Michigan (chair)

George A. Paulikas, The Aerospace Corporation (retired) (vice chair)

Spiro K. Antiochos, Naval Research Laboratory

Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado, Boulder

Ana P. Barros,* Duke University

Reta F. Beebe, New Mexico State University

Roger D. Blandford, Stanford University

Radford Byerly, Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder

Judith A. Curry, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jack D. Farmer, Arizona State University

Jacqueline N. Hewitt, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Donald E. Ingber, Harvard Medical School

Ralph H. Jacobson, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (retired)

Tamara E. Jernigan, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Klaus Keil, University of Hawaii, Manoa

Margaret G. Kivelson,* University of California, Los Angeles

Debra S. Knopman, The RAND Corporation

Calvin W. Lowe, Bowie State University

Harry Y. McSween, Jr.,* University of Tennessee

Berrien Moore III, University of New Hampshire

Norman P. Neureiter, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Suzanne Oparil, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Ronald F. Probstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dennis W. Readey, Colorado School of Mines

Anna-Louise Reysenbach,* Portland State University

Roald Z. Sagdeev,* University of Maryland, College Park

Carolus J. Schrijver,* Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory

Harvey D. Tananbaum, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Richard H. Truly, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

J. Craig Wheeler, University of Texas, Austin

A. Thomas Young, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired)

Gary P. Zank, University of California, Riverside

Raymond S. Colladay, Lockheed Martin Astronautics (retired) (Chair, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board )

William W. Hoover,* U.S. Air Force (retired) (Chair, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board )

Frank E. Muller-Karger, University of South Florida (liaison from the Ocean Studies Board)

Edward C. Stone, California Institute of Technology (U.S. representative to COSPAR)

Gerhard Haerendel, Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik (liaison, chair of the European Space Science Committee)

Joseph K. Alexander, Director (through October)

Tamara L. Dickinson, Associate Director (March-October), Acting Director (from November)

Betty C. Guyot, Administrative Officer (through April)

Barbara S. Akinwole, Information Management Associate

Tanja Pilzak, Administrative Coordinator (from December)

Vern Menkir, Financial Associate (through January)

Christina O. Shipman, Financial Associate

Arthur A. Charo, Senior Program Officer

Sandra J. Graham, Senior Program Officer

Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer**

David H. Smith, Senior Program Officer

Pamela L. Whitney, Senior Program Officer

Brian D. Dewhurst, Senior Program Associate**

Dwayne A. Day, Research Associate (from February)

Catherine A. Gruber, Assistant Editor

Claudette K. Baylor-Fleming, Administrative Assistant

Carmela J. Chamberlain, Program Associate

Theresa M. Fisher, Senior Program Assistant

Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant

Celeste A. Naylor, Senior Program Assistant

The Space Studies Board held its 145th meeting on February 28-March 2 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C. One major topic for discussion was the administration’s fiscal year 2006 budget proposal. Guest speakers included David Radzanowski, Office of Management and Budget; William Jeffrey, Office of Science and Technology Policy; and David Goldston and Richard Obermann, House Science Committee staff. Gregory Withee, NOAA-NESDIS, briefed the Board on NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service FY 2006 budget request. NASA Chief of Staff, John Schumacher, presented an overview of the Vision for Space Exploration and the NASA transformation, followed by Al Diaz, Associate Administrator for Science, who briefed the Board on the status of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and the FY 2006 budget. Steve Isakowitz, NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, also spoke with members. The Board dinner was held in the National Academies’ Koshland Museum.

Marc Allen, NASA Science Mission Directorate, opened the March 1 session with a briefing on NASA’s strategic planning and the status of the strategic roadmaps. Four NRC panels were being formed to review the NASA roadmaps (Science, International Space Station, Spaceflight Systems, and Education).

Another special guest during the meeting was Mengxin Sun, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, who discussed China’s progress in space exploration.

The Board discussed a number of statements of task for new SSB studies and reviewed the status of ongoing studies and committee activities.

The SSB held its 146th meeting on June 7-9 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Highlights of the meeting included a briefing by Charles Elachi, Director of JPL, on roles and responsibilities of JPL and subsequent tours of the spaceflight operations facility and Cassini operations, the Mars Exploration Rovers science and operations areas and the rover operations test area, and the interferometry test laboratory. A major portion of the meeting was related to preparations for review of the new NASA science roadmaps. Marc Allen of NASA Headquarters provided an overview of the NASA planning roadmaps, and SSB members and committee chairs presented reviewers’ comments on the Mars exploration, solar system exploration, Earth science, Sun-solar system, Earth-like planets, and exploration-of-the-universe roadmaps.

On the second day of the meeting Terri Lomax from the NASA Headquarters Exploration Systems Mission Directorate briefed the Board on International Space Station planning. Dennis Matson of JPL briefed the Board on the Cassini-Huygens Saturn mission. Scott Pace, NASA Associate Administrator for Program Assessment and Evaluation, joined the Board via teleconference to discuss issues related to NASA’s roadmaps, after which the SSB held an extended discussion of crosscutting issues with respect to the review of the roadmaps.

On the final day of the meeting Ed Stone, U.S. representative to COSPAR, briefed the Board on recent developments and future plans in COSPAR; Gerhard Haerendel, chair of the European Space Science Committee (ESSC), briefed the Board on the European Space Agency (ESA) Aurora program and a review of the program by the ESSC; and SSB member Reta Beebe summarized a new planning activity for a possible NASA-ESA Europa mission. The Board discussed planning for upcoming executive committee and Board meetings.

During the meeting Board chair Len Fisk saluted retiring members Ana Barros, Margaret Kivelson, Harry McSween, Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Roald Sagdeev, and Carolus Schrijver, who rotated off the Board at the end of June 2005.

The SSB did not meet during the third quarter; however, the Board’s Executive Committee held its annual meeting on August 9-11 at the National Academies J. Erik Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts (see below).

The SSB held its 147th meeting at the National Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California, on November 8-10. One major topic for the meeting was the status of NASA’s human space exploration planning and related plans for research on the International Space Station (ISS). Peter Alf and Carl Walz of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) briefed the Board on NASA’s ISS utilization requirements analysis process, the results of that analysis, and subsequent planning for research on the ISS. Later in the meeting Doug Cooke, Deputy Associate Administrator of ESMD, put the former material in context during a joint SSB-ASEB videoconference briefing summarizing the results of NASA’s recent exploration systems architecture study. In separate briefings, Eric Smith of NASA Headquarters and John Mather of the Goddard Space Flight Center reported on progress and future plans for development of the James Webb Space Telescope.

The Board addressed international aspects of space research with a briefing on current ESSC activities and the status of ESA planning for space exploration from Gerhard Haerandel, ESSC chair, and a briefing on the Chinese space program from Marcia Smith, Congressional Research Service. Smith also provided a summary describing current congressional attention to the U.S. space program. The remaining meeting time was devoted to reviewing the status of selected ongoing SSB studies, planning near-term consultations with government officials regarding potential future studies, considering membership rotations in 2006, and planning the next SSB meeting.

The Space Studies Board’s Executive Committee held its annual meeting on August 9-11 at the National Academies’ J. Erik Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to reviewing the status of SSB projects, assessing priorities for future activities, and supporting strategic planning for the SSB. During the morning of August 10, Jeff Bingham and Floyd DesChamps of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee staff and David Goldston of the House Science Committee staff joined the Executive Committee for discussion of near- and long-term space program issues from the perspective of Capitol Hill. The Executive Committee also devoted time to discussion of the prospects and potential problems with respect to the science and engineering workforce that will be needed to achieve NASA’s vision for space exploration and of whether the SSB and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) should undertake a study on these topics.

Lennard A. Fisk, University of Michigan (chair)

George A. Paulikas, The Aerospace Corporation (retired) (vice chair)

Ana P. Barros,* Duke University

Reta F. Beebe, New Mexico State University

Radford Byerly, Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder

Ralph H. Jacobson, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (retired)

Margaret G. Kivelson,* University of California, Los Angeles

Berrien Moore III, University of New Hampshire

Suzanne Oparil, University of Alabama, Birmingham

J. Craig Wheeler, University of Texas, Austin

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) held its annual business and program meetings March 21-24. COSPAR’s Program Committee met to begin to organize the scientific program for the 2006 Scientific Assembly to be held in Beijing, China. The COSPAR Bureau met to review COSPAR business and operations, and the Publications Committee met to consider issues relevant to Advances in Space Research, COSPAR’s scientific

journal, and the COSPAR Information Bulletin. Prior to its business meetings, COSPAR held a meeting to follow up on “The Future of COSPAR” brainstorming session held last July after the COSPAR scientific assembly in Paris. Since the July meeting, task groups have been considering specific aspects of the COSPAR organization—international cooperation, relations with external organizations, scientific structure, scientific vision for the future, capacity building, developing nations, and young scientists and students—and how COSPAR should handle or change those responsibilities in the future. Representatives of the task groups reported on their conclusions.

COSPAR did not meet for the remainder of the year. The August 2005 issue of the COSPAR Information Bulletin, Space Research Today, included the Call for Papers for the 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly to be held in Beijing, China, July 16-23, 2006. The Executive Secretary of the U.S. National Committee to COSPAR began accepting nominations for COSPAR Awards submitted from members of the scientific community.

Edward C. Stone, California Institute of Technology, U.S. Representative to COSPAR

Pamela L. Whitney, Executive Secretary

Carmela J. Chamberlain, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA) did not meet during the first quarter. During the second quarter, CAA met in Washington, D.C., on May 19-20 to hear presentations from various organizations, including Anne Kinney of NASA, Amy Kaminski of the Office of Management and Budget, and Wayne Van Citters of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The committee also heard presentations from John Carlstrom of the University of Chicago regarding the NSF Radio/Millimeter/Sub Millimeter long-range plan, Caty Pilachowski of the University of Indiana regarding the NSF Optical/Infrared long-range plan, and Michael Turner of NSF regarding strategic planning and the status of responses at NSF to the decadal survey.

CAA co-chairs met with Mary Cleave, NASA associate administrator for science, in mid-September to discuss a number of issues facing the astronomy community. Topics discussed at the meeting included the importance of advisory committees, the scientific priorities in the NRC reports Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (a.k.a. the 2001 decadal survey) and Connecting Quarks with the Cosmos, and the importance of a mix of missions, both in terms of size and scientific emphasis, in moving the field forward.

The committee met November 29-30 at the National Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The agenda on the 29th was largely made up of presentations by officials from NASA and the NASA centers. The committee asked Charles Elachi (JPL) and Edward Weiler (GSFC) to discuss the astronomy programs at their centers and to provide their views on the decadal survey process in astronomy and astrophysics. Anne Kinney (NASA) and Wayne van Citters (NSF) also updated the committee on the activities in the astronomy divisions in their respective agencies. In addition, the committee heard a report from Matt Mountain about the conclusions of the JWST Science Assessment Team, which he led. During the second day of the meeting, the committee briefly discussed the role of NASA’s science centers with the chair of the SSB’s Astronomy Science Centers committee and spent the rest of the day discussing the presentations from the previous day, as well as issues pertaining to the next decadal survey.

A historical summary of reports from CAA and related committees is presented in Figure 2.1.

Roger D. Blandford, Stanford University (co-chair)

C. Megan Urry, Yale University (co-chair)

Charles Alcock,* University of Pennsylvania

Donald Backer, University of California, Berkeley

Michell C. Begelman, University of Colorado, Boulder

Charles L. Bennett, Johns Hopkins University

Lars Bildsten,* University of California, Santa Barbara

Thomas J. Bogdan, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Adam S. Burrows, University of Arizona

Alexei Filippenko, University of California, Berkeley

Timothy M. Heckman, Johns Hopkins University

Lynne Hillenbrand, California Institute of Technology

David J. Hollenbach,* NASA Ames Research Center

Chryssa Kouveliotou,* NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Charles McGruder III, Western Kentucky University

Stephan S. Meyer, University of Chicago

Eve Ostriker, University of Maryland, College Park

Mark J. Reid, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Scott D. Tremaine, Princeton University

Jean L. Turner, University of California, Los Angeles

Charles E. Woodward,* University of Minnesota

Brian Dewhurst, Study Director

Celeste Naylor, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX) did not meet during the first quarter, although planning for new projects continued. Study director David Smith attended the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) meeting on February 16-17 in Arlington, Virginia, on behalf of COMPLEX.

The committee met in Washington, D.C., on April 18-20 and held a teleconference on June 3. Both activities were associated with COMPLEX’s contributions to the review of NASA’s strategic roadmaps. The committee had preliminary, informal discussions with NASA about examining the scope of missions to be considered in the competition for the third New Frontiers launch opportunity.

COMPLEX met on July 20-22 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The meeting was devoted to general discussions of possible committee activities over the next few years leading up to the initiation of the next solar system exploration decadal survey. Five projects were outlined in varying degrees of completeness. Of these, a study of lunar science and exploration goals was developed in the greatest detail. Additional activities under consideration were a comparative study of the science goals for the exploration of the inner planets, the connections between studies of the solar system’s giant planets and extrasolar giant planets, and an assessment of the status of solar system exploration technologies necessary to support the next generation of robotic planetary spacecraft. In addition, the committee discussed a possible near-term study to determine if the announcement of opportunity for the third New Frontiers mission should be restricted to unimplemented medium-class missions identified in New Frontiers in the Solar System or whether the competition should be opened to a wider range of missions.

The committee met on November 2-4 at the National Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California. The meeting was devoted to updates on relevant NASA planetary activities and to finalizing draft plans for committee activities over the next 5 years. On December 9 the committee’s proposal for a lunar science strategy was redrafted in response to an informal expression of interest by NASA. Additionally, NASA’s Mars program director expressed interest in having the committee assess the new Mars exploration architecture.

A historical summary of reports from COMPLEX and related committees is presented in Figure 2.2.

Reta F. Beebe, New Mexico State University (chair)

William B. Banerdt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Stephen W. Bougher, University of Michigan

Michael E. Brown,* California Institute of Technology

William D. Cochran, University of Texas, Austin

Robert Farquhar,* Johns Hopkins University

Martha S. Gilmore, Wesleyan University

William B. Hubbard, University of Arizona

Krishan Khurana, University of California, Los Angeles

Paul G. Lucey,* University of Hawaii, Manoa

Louise M. Prockter, Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory

Thomas R. Spilker, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

David H. Smith, Study Director

Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life (COEL) is a joint activity of the Space Studies Board and the Board on Life Sciences. During 2005, COEL met on February 9-11 at the National Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, D.C., on May 31-June 2 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and on October 3-5 in Boulder, Colorado. During the first quarter of 2005, the committee’s report, The Astrophysical Context of Life, was presented to NASA officials by committee co-chair J. Craig Wheeler on March 3 and released to the public in prepublication format on March 8. The final report was published in May. The Executive Summary is reprinted in Chapter 4, pp. 45-48.

During 2005 COEL activities focused on generating material on astrobiology for the SSB’s review of NASA’s strategic roadmaps and on organizing two new studies, the first concerning planetary protection and the second dealing with the exploration of Mars. The former project was initiated in response to a request from NASA’s Planetary Protection Officer, John Rummel, for advice on whether or not the existing planetary protection requirements for spacecraft missions to Venus require revision in light of new findings concerning the ability of terrestrial organisms to survive in what were previously considered highly inhospitable environments. COEL acted as the organizing committee for this study. COEL’s co-chair, Jack Szostak, chaired the ad hoc group that COEL established to undertake the study, and several other COEL members also participated. The Mars project was initiated in response to a request from NASA’s Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Mary Cleave, for assistance in defining an astrobiology strategy for the exploration of Mars. As with the planetary protection project, COEL acted as the organizing committee for the ad hoc group that will actually draft the Mars astrobiology strategy.

A historical summary of reports from COEL and related committees is presented in Figure 2.3.

Bruce M. Jakosky, University of Colorado, Boulder (co-chair)

Jack W. Szostak,* Massachusetts General Hospital (co-chair)

J. Craig Wheeler,* University of Texas, Austin (co-chair)

Jan P. Amend, Washington University

Ruth Blake, Yale University

Michael H. Carr, U.S. Geological Survey

Michael Daly, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Anthony Keefe, Archemix Corporation

Martin Keller, Diversa Corporation

Harry Y. McSween, Jr., University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Barbara Sherwood-Lollar, University of Toronto

Janet L. Siefert, Rice University

Andrew Steele, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Roger Summons, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Meenakshi Wadhwa, The Field Museum of Natural History

Neville J. Woolf, University of Arizona

David H. Smith, Study Director

Robert L. Riemer, Senior Program Officer

Rodney N. Howard, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP) met on February 7-9 at the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado, and focused on planning for the committee’s participation in the review of NASA’s Sun-solar system roadmap and future studies to be organized by CSSP. Barbara Giles (NASA/GSFC) and Tim Killeen (director, NCAR) provided background on the NASA roadmap process. Ron Turner (ANSER Co.), Jeff Forbes (University of Colorado), and Richard Behnke (head of the NSF’s Upper Atmosphere Research Section) made presentations that were relevant to planning for new studies. The committee also met with Chris Fox, the director of NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center. Committee member John Foster presented a revised draft of the report on the Workshop on Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments (DASI) for application to solar-terrestrial physics.

The committee discussed three potential new studies:

1. A workshop and possible study to examine the radiation environment in the solar system and how it might impact robotic and human exploration;

2. A study that would focus on the nation’s current and future ability to manage severe space weather events and mitigate their deleterious impacts; and

3. A workshop or study on comparative planetary environments (atmospheres and magnetospheres).

CSSP did not meet during the second or third quarters. Committee members participated in the review of the NASA Sun-Solar System Connection strategic roadmap and worked to complete the report on the DASI workshop. Also during this period, the committee received approval for a new project, “Solar and Space Physics and the Vision for Space Exploration,” which began with a workshop. CSSP chair Dan Baker and SSB staff officer Art Charo served on the organizing committee for the workshop. Held on October 16-20 in Wintergreen, Virginia, it brought together more than 100 members of the space science, planetary science, radiation physics, spaceflight operations, and exploration engineering communities in order to:

• Increase awareness and understanding of the complex array of solar and space physics issues pertinent to the environments of Earth, the Moon, and Mars;

• Identify compelling research goals necessary to ensure the success of the Vision for Space Exploration in these environments;

• Discuss the directions that research in these fields should take over the coming decades in order to achieve these goals.

A particular emphasis of the workshop was on improving predictions of solar energetic particle storms, the solar eruptions that produce them, and the impact of solar storms on the Earth, Moon, and Mars environments. Members of CSSP were appointed to serve on an ad hoc committee to write a report summarizing workshop discussions on issues such as the current characterization of the heliospheric radiation environment, physical mechanisms of energetic particle acceleration and transport, radiation health hazards to astronauts, radiation effects on materials and spacecraft systems, and mitigation techniques and strategies, including forecasting and operational schemes. The anticipated release of the report is in spring 2006.

At the end of the fourth quarter, CSSP had completed its response to external review for the report Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments for Solar-Terrestrial Research: Report of a Workshop. Published copies of this report are expected early in 2006.

A historical summary of reports from CSSP and related committees is presented in Figure 2.4.

Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado, Boulder (chair)

Claudia J. Alexander, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Vassilis Angelopoulos,* University of California, Berkeley

Anthony Chan, Rice University

Andrew F. Cheng, Johns Hopkins University

John C. Foster,* Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sarah Gibson,* National Center for Atmospheric Research

Jack R. Jokipii, University of Arizona

Paul M. Kintner, Cornell University

William S. Lewis, Southwest Research Institute

Dana W. Longcope, Montana State University

Gang Lu, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Barry H. Mauk,* Johns Hopkins University

Howard J. Singer, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Leonard Strachan, Jr., Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Niescja Turner, Florida Institute of Technology

Thomas H. Zurbuchen, University of Michigan

Arthur Charo, Study Director

Theresa M. Fisher, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Earth Studies (CES) did not meet during 2005. Its work has been suspended during the ongoing decadal study, “Earth Science and Applications from Space: A Community Assessment and Strategy for the Future.”

Antonio J. Busalacchi, Jr., University of Maryland, College Park

Carol Anne Clayson, Florida State University

Ross N. Hoffman, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc.

Steven W. Running, University of Montana, Missoula

Robert A. Shuchman, Altarum, Inc.

Roy W. Spencer, University of Alabama, Huntsville

Jan Svejkovsky, Ocean Imaging, Inc.

Arthur Charo, Study Director

Theresa M. Fisher, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Space Biology and Medicine (CSBM) was not active during 2005, except for various tracking and dissemination activities such as providing requested materials and information (often to NASA and congressional staff) on prior studies, or assistance to related studies by other committees.

A historical summary of reports from CSBM and related committees is presented in Figure 2.5.

Donald E. Ingber, Harvard Medical School (chair)

Sandra J. Graham, Study Director

Celeste Naylor, Senior Program Assistant

The Committee on Microgravity Research (CMGR) was not active during 2005, except for various tracking and dissemination activities such as providing requested materials and information on prior reports or assistance to related studies by other committees.

A historical summary of reports from CMGR and related committees is presented in Figure 2.6.

Dennis W. Readey, Colorado School of Mines (chair)

Sandra J. Graham, Study Director

Celeste Naylor, Senior Program Assistant