Download or read book Assessment of Mission Size Trade offs for NASA s Earth and Space Science Missions written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-08-31 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions addresses fundamental issues of mission architecture in the nation's scientific space program and responds to the FY99 Senate conference report, which requested that NASA commission a study to assess the strengths and weaknesses of small, medium, and large missions. This report evaluates the general strengths and weaknesses of small, medium, and large missions in terms of their potential scientific productivity, responsiveness to evolving opportunities, ability to take advantage of technological progress, and other factors that may be identified during the study; identifies which elements of the SSB and NASA science strategies will require medium or large missions to accomplish high-priority science objectives; and recommends general principles or criteria for evaluating the mix of mission sizes in Earth and space science programs. Assessment of Mission Size Trade-offs for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions considers not only scientific, technological, and cost trade-offs, but also institutional and structural issues pertaining to the vigor of the research community, government-industry university partnerships, graduate student training, and the like.
Download or read book Evaluation of the Space Astronomy Missions and Planetary Missions Programs written by Canadian Space Agency. Audit and Evaluation Directorate and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evaluation of the Space Astronomy Missions and Planetary Missions Programs written by and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The Evaluation of the Space Astronomy Missions (SAM) and Planetary Missions (PM) programs of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) was commissioned in December 2016 by the Audit and Evaluation Directorate in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Administration Act and the Five-Year Departmental Evaluation Plan. The evaluation undertaken by Science-Metrix Inc. was conducted in accordance with the 2016 Treasury Board of Canada's Policy on Results and addressed the evaluation issues of relevance, effectiveness and efficiency' -- Executive summary, p. vi.
Download or read book Grading NASA s Solar System Exploration Program written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-04-25 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book An Enabling Foundation for NASA s Earth and Space Science Missions written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-02-25 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book An Assessment of Balance in NASA s Science Programs written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-06-30 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Principal Investigator Led Missions in the Space Sciences written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-04-22 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Principal Investigator-Led (PI-led) missions are an important element of NASA's space science enterprise. While several NRC studies have considered aspects of PI-led missions in the course of other studies for NASA, issues facing the PI-led missions in general have not been subject to much analysis in those studies. Nevertheless, these issues are raising increasingly important questions for NASA, and it requested the NRC to explore them as they currently affect PI-led missions. Among the issues NASA asked to have examined were those concerning cost and scheduling, the selection process, relationships among PI-led team members, and opportunities for knowledge transfer to new PIs. This report provides a discussion of the evolution and current status of the PIled mission concept, the ways in which certain practices have affected its performance, and the steps that can carry it successfully into the future. The study was done in collaboration with the National Academy of Public Administration.
Download or read book A Performance Assessment of NASA s Astrophysics Program written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-21 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Space Science Decadal Surveys written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-10-28 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Research Council has conducted 11 decadal surveys in the Earth and space sciences since 1964 and released the latest four surveys in the past 8 years. The decadal surveys are notable in their ability to sample thoroughly the research interest, aspirations, and needs of a scientific community. Through a rigorous process, a primary survey committee and thematic panels of community members construct a prioritized program of science goals and objectives and define an executable strategy for achieving them. These reports play a critical role in defining the nation's agenda in that science area for the following 10 years, and often beyond. The Space Science Decadal Surveys considers the lessons learned from previous surveys and presents options for possible changes and improvements to the process, including the statement of task, advanced preparation, organization, and execution. This report discusses valuable aspects of decadal surveys that could taken further, as well as some challenges future surveys are likely to face in searching for the richest areas of scientific endeavor, seeking community consensus of where to go next, and planning how to get there. The Space Science Decadal Surveys describes aspects in the decadal survey prioritization process, including balance in the science program and across the discipline; balance between the needs of current researchers and the development of the future workforce; and balance in mission scale - smaller, competed programs versus large strategic missions.
Download or read book Opening New Frontiers in Space written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-08-21 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Frontiers Program was created by NASA in 2002 at the recommendation of the NRC's decadal survey for solar system research. In order to optimize solar system research, the NRC recommended a series of principal-investigator missions that encourage innovation and accomplish the main scientific objectives presented in the survey. Two of the five recommended missions have been selected and, as was also recommended in the survey, the NRC was asked in 2007 to provide criteria and guiding principles to NASA for determining the list of candidate missions. This book presents a review of eight missions: the three remaining from the original list of five from the survey plus five missions considered by the survey committee but which were not recommended. Included in the review of each mission is a discussion of relevant science and technology developments since the survey and set of recommended science goals.
Download or read book Grading NASA s Solar System Exploration Program written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-04-25 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Science in NASA s Vision for Space Exploration written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-02-01 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In January 2004, President Bush announced a new space policy directed at human and robotic exploration of space. The National Academies released a report at the same time that independently addressed many of the issues contained in the new policy. In June, the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy issued a report recommending that NASA ask the National Research Council (NRC) to reevaluate space science priorities to take advantage of the exploration vision. Congress also directed the NRC to conduct a thorough review of the science NASA is proposing to undertake within the initiative. This report provides an initial response to those requests. It presents guiding principles for selecting science missions that enhance and support the exploration program. The report also presents findings and recommendations to help guide NASA's space exploration strategic planning activity. Separate NRC reviews will be carried out of strategic roadmaps that NASA is developing to implement the policy.
Download or read book Science Opportunities Enabled by NASA s Constellation System written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-05-08 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To begin implementation of the Vision for Space Exploration (recently renamed "United States Space Exploration Policy"), NASA has begun development of new launch vehicles and a human-carrying spacecraft that are collectively called the Constellation System. In November 2007, NASA asked the NRC to evaluate the potential for the Constellation System to enable new space science opportunities. For this interim report, 11 existing "Vision Mission" studies of advanced space science mission concepts inspired by earlier NASA forward-looking studies were evaluated. The focus was to assess the concepts and group them into two categories: more-deserving or less deserving of future study. This report presents a description of the Constellation System and its opportunities for enabling new space science opportunities, and a systematic analysis of the 11 Vision Mission studies. For the final report, the NRC issued a request for information to the relevant communities to obtain ideas for other mission concepts that will be assessed by the study committee, and several issues addressed only briefly in the interim report will be explored more fully.
Download or read book The Next Decade in Space written by United States. President's Science Advisory Committee. Space Science and Technology Panel and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Visions into Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013 2022 written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In spring 2011 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produced a report outlining the next decade in planetary sciences. That report, titled Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022, and popularly referred to as the "decadal survey," has provided high-level prioritization and guidance for NASA's Planetary Science Division. Other considerations, such as budget realities, congressional language in authorization and appropriations bills, administration requirements, and cross-division and cross-directorate requirements (notably in retiring risk or providing needed information for the human program) are also necessary inputs to how NASA develops its planetary science program. In 2016 NASA asked the National Academies to undertake a study assessing NASA's progress at meeting the objectives of the decadal survey. After the study was underway, Congress passed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017 which called for NASA to engage the National Academies in a review of NASA's Mars Exploration Program. NASA and the Academies agreed to incorporate that review into the midterm study. That study has produced this report, which serves as a midterm assessment and provides guidance on achieving the goals in the remaining years covered by the decadal survey as well as preparing for the next decadal survey, currently scheduled to begin in 2020.
Download or read book Assessment of Mars Science and Mission Priorities written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-08-08 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the Office of Space Science of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) special importance is attached to exploration of the planet Mars, because it is the most like Earth of the planets in the solar system and the place where the first detection of extraterrestrial life seems most likely to be made. The failures in 1999 of two NASA missions-Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander-caused the space agency's program of Mars exploration to be systematically rethought, both technologically and scientifically. A new Mars Exploration Program plan (summarized in Appendix A) was announced in October 2000. The Committee on Planetary and Lunar Exploration (COMPLEX), a standing committee of the Space Studies Board of the National Research Council, was asked to examine the scientific content of this new program. This goals of this report are the following: -Review the state of knowledge of the planet Mars, with special emphasis on findings of the most recent Mars missions and related research activities; -Review the most important Mars research opportunities in the immediate future; -Review scientific priorities for the exploration of Mars identified by COMPLEX (and other scientific advisory groups) and their motivation, and consider the degree to which recent discoveries suggest a reordering of priorities; and -Assess the congruence between NASA's evolving Mars Exploration Program plan and these recommended priorities, and suggest any adjustments that might be warranted.
Download or read book Space Exploration For Dummies written by Cynthia Phillips and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-05-04 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Your comprehensive guide to remarkable achievements in space Do you long to explore the universe? This plain-English, fully illustrated guide explains the great discoveries and advancements in space exploration throughout history, from early astronomers to the International Space Station. You'll learn about the first satellites, rockets, and people in space; explore space programs around the world; and ponder the controversial question: Why continue to explore space? Take a quick tour of astronomy get to know the solar system and our place in the galaxy, take a crash course in rocket science, and live a day in the life of an astronaut Run the Great Space Race trace the growth of the Space Age from Sputnik to the Apollo moon landings and meet the robots that explored the cosmos Watch as space exploration matures from the birth of the Space Shuttle to the creation of the Mir Space Station to successes and failures in Mars exploration, see how space programs reached new levels Journey among the planets check out the discoveries made during historic voyages to the inner and outer reaches of the solar system Understand current exploration review the telescopes in space, take a tour of the International Space Station, and see the latest sights on Mars Look into the future learn about upcoming space missions and increased access to space travel Open the book and find: Descriptions of space milestones and future missions An easy-to-follow chronological structure Color and black-and-white photos The nitty-gritty details of becoming an astronaut A grand tour of the solar system through space missions Explanations of tragedies and narrow escapes Facts on the creation of space stations by NASA and the USSR Ten places to look for life beyond Earth
