Astro2010 Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space (EOS)

Summary

As one of the four Astro2010 Program Prioritization Panels (PPP) the EOS panel is charged with recommending a prioritized, balanced, and integrated research program which includes a rank ordering of research activities and a balanced technology development program for space-based facilities that observe in the electromagnetic spectrum

Project Information

• Statement of Task
• Committee Members and NRC Staff
• Meetings
• Community Input
• Sponsor
• Astro2010 Survey Committee
• The National Academies' Current Projects System

Statement of Task

The Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Program Prioritization Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space (EOS) will identify and recommend a prioritized program of federal investment in research activities that involve space-based observations of astrophysical phenomena primarily by means of electromagnetic radiation. In formulating its conclusions, the EOS panel will draw on several sources of information: (1) the science forefronts identified by the Astro2010 science frontiers panels, (2) input from the proponents of research activities, and (3) independent cost and technical readiness assessments. The EOS panel's recommendations will be integrated into a program for all of astronomy and astrophysics by the Astro2010 Committee.

In particular the Astro2010 Programmatic Prioritization Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space will:

1. Report on the status of existing EOS research activities to set the context for future research activities, incorporating findings of the Study Groups.
2. Preview and compare proposed EOS research activities including those carried forward from previous surveys that have not been given a formal construction start.
3. State the relative importance of (a) smaller projects and generic research programs that involve competitive peer review and (b) programs that leverage public and private infrastructure investments, where appropriate.
4. Assess and describe best available estimates of the construction costs and lifetimes for each recommended research activity together with their full running costs (operations, science, and upgrades).
5. Identify particular risks for each research activity that would adversely affect the projected cost, technical readiness, or schedule of the activity. Identify those factors that could change an activity's priority and/or scope.
6. Informed by (a) the recommendations of the science frontier panels and (b) the panel's own research activity assessments, recommend a prioritized, balanced, and integrated research program which includes a rank ordering of research activities and a balanced technology development program. A preliminary recommended program will be used to identify activities that will be subject to an independent technical evaluation and cost estimate. The panel's final recommendation to the Survey Committee will include consideration of the results of the independent technical evaluation and cost estimate.

In completing this task, each PPP will provide the Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Committee’s Subcommittee on Programs with an interim internal and confidential summary report of its recommended program in the Fall of 2009 and complete its panel report thereafter.  The panel reports will be published following the release of the survey committee’s report in 2010.
 

Committee Members and NRC Staff

Alan Dressler, Chair, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution
Michael Bay, Bay Engineering Innovations
Alan Boss, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Mark Devlin, University of Pennsylvania
Megan Donahue, Michigan State University
Brenna Flaugher, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Tom Greene, NASA Ames Research Center
Puragra (Raja) GuhaThakurta, University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory
Michael Hauser, Space Telescope Science Institute
Harold McAlister, Georgia State University
Peter Michelson, Stanford University
Ben Oppenheimer, American Museum of Natural History
Frits Paerels, Columbia University
Adam Reiss, Johns Hopkins University
George Rieke, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Paul Schechter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Todd Tripp, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

NRC Staff

Don Shapero, Director BPA
Michael Moloney, Astro2010 Study Director
Brian Dewhurst, Program Officer, ASEB
Brant Sponberg, Associate Director SSB
Carmela Chamberlain, Program Associate, SSB

Meetings

Meeting 1: May 12-13, 2009, Irvine, CA (This meeting is closed in its entirety.)
Meeting 2: June 8-11, 2009, Pasadena, CA
Meeting 3: TBD

Sponsor

The committee is pleased to acknowledge support from the NASA, the NSF, and the DOE.

The National Academies' Current Projects System

The National Academies' Current Projects System maintains the public record of a committees' activities compliant to Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.  Visit the Astro2010 Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space Current Projects page for more information.