Space

Reports and Report Summaries

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

	Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies: Interim report (SSB, ASEB)   Released 08.12.09   The United States is currently the only country with an active, government-sponsored effort to detect and track potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs). Congress has mandated that NASA detect and track 90 percent of NEOs that are 1 kilometer in diameter or larger. These objects represent a great potential hazard to life on Earth and could cause global destruction. NASA is close to accomplishing this goal. Congress has more recently mandated that by 2020 NASA should detect and track 90 percent of NEOs that are 140 meters in diameter or larger, a category of objects that is generally recognized to represent a very significant threat to life on Earth if they strike in or near urban areas. Achieving this goal may require the building of one or more additional observatories, possibly including a space-based observatory. Congress directed NASA to ask the National Research Council to review NASA's near-Earth object programs. This interim report addresses some of the issues associated with the survey and detection of NEOs. The final report will contain findings and recommendations for survey and detection, characterization, and mitigation of near-Earth objects based on an integrated assessment of the problem.
	America’s Future in Space: Aligning the Civil Space Program with National Needs (ASEB)   Released 07.07.09   As civil space policies and programs have evolved, the geopolitical environment has changed dramatically. Although the U.S. space program was originally driven in large part by competition with the Soviet Union, the nation now finds itself in a post-Cold War world in which many nations have established, or are aspiring to develop, independent space capabilities. Furthermore discoveries from developments in the first 50 years of the space age have led to an explosion of scientific and engineering knowledge and practical applications of space technology. The private sector has also been developing, fielding, and expanding the commercial use of space-based technology and systems.   Recognizing the new national and international context for space activities, America's Future in Space is meant to advise the nation on key goals and critical issues in 21st century U.S. civil space policy.
	Approaches to Future Space Cooperation and Competition in a Globalizing World: Summary of a Workshop (SSB) Released 06.19.09 Numerous countries and regions now have very active space programs, and the number is increasing. These maturing capabilities around the world create a plethora of potential partners for cooperative space endeavors, while at the same time heightening competitiveness in the international space arena. This book summarizes a public workshop held in November 2008 for the purpose of reviewing past and present cooperation, coordination, and competition mechanisms for space and Earth science research and space exploration; identifying significant lessons learned; and discussing how those lessons could best be applied in the future, particularly in the areas of cooperation and collaboration.
	Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions (SSB)   Released 05.13.09   NASA maintains a planetary protection policy to avoid the forward biological contamination of other worlds by terrestrial organisms, and back biological contamination of Earth from the return of extraterrestrial materials by spaceflight missions. Forward-contamination issues related to Mars missions were addressed in a 2006 National Research Council (NRC) book, Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars. However, it has been more than 10 years since back-contamination issues were last examined.   Driven by a renewed interest in Mars sample return missions, this book reviews, updates, and replaces the planetary protection conclusions and recommendations contained in the NRC's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. The specific issues addressed in this book include the following: The potential for living entities to be included in samples returned from Mars;   Scientific investigations that should be conducted to reduce uncertainty in the above assessment; The potential for large-scale effects on Earth's environment by any returned entity released to the environment; Criteria for intentional sample release, taking note of current and anticipated regulatory frameworks; and The status of technological measures that could be taken on a mission to prevent the inadvertent release of a returned sample into Earth's biosphere.
	Space Studies Board Annual Report 2008
	Severe Space Weather Events—Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report (SSB) Released 01.05.09 Severe space weather—intense disturbances in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and near-space environment cause by solar magnetic activity—has caused major problems in the past including extensive power outages, large-scale rerouting of airline flights, outages of communications satellites, and disruption of GPS systems.  Such disturbances occur primarily during periods of increased solar activity, but events have been known to happen when the sun is relatively quiet.  As society becomes more dependent on technologies that are susceptible to extreme space weather, concern about the nation’s vulnerability to and the economic and social costs of such storms has grown.  Few studies of these issues exist, however, and in 2007 the Space Studies Board of the NRC, with the support of NASA, held a workshop to assess the nation’s current and future ability to manage the effects of space weather and their societal and economic impacts.  This report presents a summary of workshop presentations including a retrospective look at space weather impacts; the infrastructure for current space weather infrastructure and user perspectives on those products; user needs; and future vulnerabilities, risks, and solutions.