REVITALIZING NASA’S SUBORBITAL PROGRAM
ADVANCING SCIENCE, DRIVING INNOVATION, AND DEVELOPING A WORKFORCE
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study is based on work supported by the Contract NNH06CE15B between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number 13: 978-0-309-15083-5
International Standard Book Number 10: 0-309-15083-3
Cover: Images courtesy of NASA. Design by Tim Warchocki.
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OTHER REPORTS OF THE SPACE STUDIES BOARD
Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Final Report (SSB with the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board [ASEB], 2010)
An Enabling Foundation for NASA’s Space and Earth Science Missions (Space Studies Board [SSB], 2010)
America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs (SSB with ASEB, 2009)
Approaches to Future Space Cooperation and Competition in a Globalizing World: Summary of a Workshop (SSB with ASEB, 2009)
Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions (SSB, 2009)
A Performance Assessment of NASA’s Heliophysics Program (SSB, 2009)
Radioisotope Power Systems: An Imperative for Maintaining U.S. Leadership in Space Exploration (SSB with ASEB, 2009)
Ensuring the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft: Elements of a Strategy to Recover Measurement Capabilities Lost in Program Restructuring (SSB, 2008)
Launching Science: Science Opportunities Provided by NASA’s Constellation System (SSB with ASEB, 2008)
Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity (SSB, 2008)
Review of NASA’s Exploration Technology Development Program: An Interim Report (ASEB, 2008)
Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA’s Constellation System: Interim Report (SSB with ASEB, 2008)
Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report (SSB, 2008)
Space Science and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations: Summary of a Workshop (SSB, 2008)
United States Civil Space Policy: Summary of a Workshop (SSB with ASEB, 2008)
Assessment of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (SSB, 2007)
An Astrobiology Strategy for the Exploration of Mars (SSB with the Board on Life Sciences [BLS], 2007)
Building a Better NASA Workforce: Meeting the Workforce Needs for the National Vision for Space Exploration (SSB with ASEB, 2007)
Decadal Science Strategy Surveys: Report of a Workshop (SSB, 2007)
Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond (SSB, 2007)
Exploring Organic Environments in the Solar System (SSB with the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, 2007)
Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Review (SSB, 2007)
The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems (SSB with BLS, 2007)
NASA’s Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation (SSB with the Board on Physics and Astronomy [BPA], 2007)
Options to Ensure the Climate Record from the NPOESS and GOES-R Spacecraft: A Workshop Report (SSB, 2007)
A Performance Assessment of NASA’s Astrophysics Program (SSB with BPA, 2007)
Portals to the Universe: The NASA Astronomy Science Centers (SSB, 2007)
The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon (SSB, 2007)
Limited copies of SSB reports are available free of charge from
Space Studies Board
National Research Council
The Keck Center of the National Academies
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20001
(202) 334-3477/ssb@nas.edu
COMMITTEE ON NASA’S SUBORBITAL RESEARCH CAPABILITIES
STEVEN R. BOHLEN,
Texas A&M University,
Chair
KRISTIN A. BLAIS,
The Boeing Company
MARK A. BROSMER,
The Aerospace Corporation
ESTELLE CONDON,
NASA Ames Research Center (retired)
CHRISTINE M. FOREMAN,
Montana State University
ADAM P.-H. HUANG,
University of Arkansas
MICHAEL J. KURYLO III,
Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center
ROBERT P. LIN,
University of California, Berkeley
FRANKLIN D. MARTIN,
Martin Consulting Inc.
R. BRUCE PARTRIDGE,
Haverford College
ROBERT PINCUS,
RP Consultants
W. THOMAS VESTRAND,
Los Alamos National Laboratory
ERIK WILKINSON,
Southwest Research Institute
Staff
ROBERT L. RIEMER, Study Director
DWAYNE A. DAY, Senior Staff Officer
CATHERINE A. GRUBER, Editor
LINDA M. WALKER, Senior Project Assistant
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
CHARLES F. KENNEL,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego,
Chair
A. THOMAS YOUNG,
Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired),
Vice Chair
DANIEL N. BAKER,
University of Colorado
STEVEN J. BATTEL,
Battel Engineering
CHARLES L. BENNETT,
Johns Hopkins University
YVONNE C. BRILL, Aerospace Consultant
ELIZABETH R. CANTWELL,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
ANDREW B. CHRISTENSEN,
Dixie State College and Aerospace Corporation
ALAN DRESSLER,
The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution
JACK D. FELLOWS,
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
FIONA A. HARRISON,
California Institute of Technology
JOAN JOHNSON-FREESE,
Naval War College
KLAUS KEIL,
University of Hawaii
MOLLY K. MACAULEY,
Resources for the Future
BERRIEN MOORE III,
University of New Hampshire
ROBERT T. PAPPALARDO,
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
JAMES PAWELCZYK,
Pennsylvania State University
SOROOSH SOROOSHIAN,
University of California, Irvine
JOAN VERNIKOS,
Thirdage LLC
JOSEPH F. VEVERKA,
Cornell University
WARREN M. WASHINGTON,
National Center for Atmospheric Research
CHARLES E. WOODWARD,
University of Minnesota
ELLEN G. ZWEIBEL,
University of Wisconsin
RICHARD E. ROWBERG, Interim Director (from March 2, 2009)
MARCIA S. SMITH, Director (until March 1, 2009)
Preface
This study was initiated at the request of Congress, through a request from NASA (Appendix A). In response to the request and to meet the ambitious schedule, in March 2009 the National Research Council established the Committee on NASA’s Suborbital Research Capabilities. The statement of task is given in Appendix B. The committee heard presentations from NASA staff at its first meeting, held at the Keck Center of the National Academies in Washington, D.C., on May 20-21, 2009. It heard from research scientists, representatives of the commercial spaceflight community, outreach specialists, and others at its second and third meetings, held at the Laboratory for Space Astronomy and Physics, Boulder, Colorado, on August 19-20, and at the National Academies’ Beckman Center, Irvine, California, on September 23-25, 2009. The agendas of the committee meetings are presented in Appendix C. Biographies of the committee members are in Appendix D.
The committee thanks those who made presentations and others who provided help, advice, and comments. The committee also thanks Linda Walker for making arrangements for and assisting at the committee’s meetings.
Steven R. Bohlen, Chair
Committee on NASA’s Suborbital Research Capabilities
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
James G. Anderson, Harvard University,
Daniel N. Baker, University of Colorado,
David C. Black, Universities Space Research Association,
William Brune III, Pennsylvania State University,
Mark Devlin, University of Pennsylvania,
James R. Huning, National Science Foundation,
Edward R. Laws, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University,
Kristina Lynch, Dartmouth College,
Daniel McCammon, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Jonathan F. Ormes, University of Denver, and
Rainer Weiss, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Christopher F. McKee, University of California, Berkeley. Appointed by the NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.