This project will enhance the dissemination and outreach aspects of the National Research Council (NRC)/National Academy of Sciences' 2013-2022 Planetary Science Decadal Survey in two areas. First, by the printing and dissemination of an illustrated booklet presenting the survey's conclusions and recommendations in a format that is easily accessible to students, congressional staff, members of the general public and others without a technical background in the planetary sciences. Second, by the printing and dissemination of additional copies of the full decadal survey report.
The NRC's decadal survey process has a 50-year record of successfully defining the science and implementation priorities for the astronomy community. The Planetary Science Decadal Survey itself will identify and rank the most compelling scientific activities that can be addressed by planetary scientists in the coming decade. As such, the community consensus embodied in the survey report will form the basis upon which NASA and NSF will plan future initiatives. The popular version of the report is an effective tool for communicating the science goals of the planetary community to a wider audience, as it is designed to stimulate greater public awareness of and interest in those goals. The amount provided under this award is for printing, dissemination and outreach activities.
This award is made under the Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program.
was organized under the supervision of the National Research Council’s (NRC"s) Space Studies Board (for more details see: http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/ssb_065878). This activity was designed to produce a community-based assessment of the scientific priorities of the U.S. planetary science research enterprise for the period 2013-2022. This new decadal survey will update and extend the NRC’s previous survey in planetary science, New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy (2003) Findings The principal findings and recommendations relating to NSF activities contained in the planetary science decadal survey report can be summarized as the following: • The National Science Foundation supports nearly all areas of planetary science except space missions, which it supports indirectly through laboratory research and archived data. NSF grants and support for field activities are an important source of support for planetary science in the United States and should continue. • NSF is also the largest federal funding agency for ground-based astronomy in the United States. The ground-based observational facilities supported wholly or in part by NSF are essential to planetary astronomical observations, both in support of active space missions and in studies independent of (or as follow-up to) such missions. Their continued support is critical to the advancement of planetary science. • One of the future NSF-funded facilities most important to planetary science is the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The survey encourages the timely completion of LSST and stresses the importance of its contributions to planetary science once telescope operations begin. • The survey recommends expansion of NSF funding for the support of planetary science in existing laboratories, and the establishment of new laboratories as needs develop.
