Date: Wed, 3 May 2006 12:05:38 -0500
Subject: DPS Mailing #06-09: Statement by the DPS Committee to NASA Advisory Council...
Greetings, DPS members,
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1) Statement by the DPS Committee to the NASA Advisory Council
2) Correction
3) Belton Symposium
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STATEMENT BY THE DPS COMMITTEE TO THE NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society
has over 1200 planetary scientists with a strong interest in the
future direction of NASA's solar system exploration program. In
response to the NASA Advisory Council Science Subcommittee's call for
public input, the DPS Committee, elected to represent our
membership, endorses the following priorities for NASA's planetary
science programs.
Scientific exploration of the solar system is one of NASA's crown jewels
and finest achievements, but it is under serious attack in the current
NASA budget. Our highest priority is adequate and stable funding for
NASA's research and analysis programs, which have been targeted
for substantial cuts in both the FY'06 and FY'07 budgets. R&A programs
for past and ongoing planetary missions provide the scientific payoff
to the taxpayers for their substantial investment in exploration. It
makes no sense to carry out missions without adequate support
for the analysis of the data that have been acquired with enormous
effort and at great expense.
It has been argued that, with a reduction in future missions, the R&A
budget should be correspondingly reduced. This is simply not true.
To give just two examples, the amazingly successful Cassini
mission to Saturn, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that has
just begun its work, will collectively return more high quality
data than ever before about these two planetary systems. Yet, the
funding available for Cassini data analysis is a tiny fraction of the
overall cost of the mission, and the same is true for many other
successful planetary missions. Additionally, R&A is needed to plan
for new missions, both in the immediate future and over the
long term. Withdrawing support for R&A not only diminishes the
return from past missions, but imperils America's continued
preeminence in solar system exploration.
In difficult budgetary times, we realize that priorities must
be set and compromises must be made. We urge that NASA take into
account the Decadal Survey that has been thoughtfully prepared to
identify the key scientific objectives in solar system
exploration. We further urge that NASA work in close concert
with the scientific community to develop a balanced program
of small, intermediate, and flagship solar system missions,
adjusting the flight schedule if necessary, while maintaining a
robust R&A program. Sending spacecraft to other worlds without
interpreting the results is tourism, not science. The taxpayers
who fund NASA deserve better.
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Correction to Item 2 in DPS Mailing #06-08:
Dr. Jennifer Grier, the Chair of the DPS Education and Public
Outreach Subcommittee, is now at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI).
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BELTON SYMPOSIUM
Dear Colleagues,
We invite you to attend the "Belton Symposium: Journey through
the Solar System" to be held on November 10 & 11, 2006
(Friday and Saturday) in Tucson, Arizona, U.S.A. For further
information, please see http://www.noao.edu/meetings/belton/
Please feel free to forward this message to Dr. Belton's colleagues
and friends who are not DPS members.
Beatrice Mueller
LOC chair