Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the - Solar System ...

Defining the Need
Jon Miller, in his paper entitled Civic Scientific Literacy across the Life Cycle, states that only
30 percent of the U.S. population is scientifically literate. 1 This scientific illiteracy extends even to
the most basic facts about our universe. For example, the National Science Board estimates that more
than a third of Americans do not understand that Earth orbits the Sun. 2 The United States is losing its
scientific and technological competitiveness, a situation that can only be reversed if science literacy
and proficiency become a national priority. 3
The role that science can play in economic development was articulated in the NRC’s 2007
and 2010 reports Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a
Brighter Economic Future 8 and Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revised: Rapidly Approaching
Category 5. 9 These reports argue that the science and technology that powers the U.S. economy is
not adequately funded, and does not attract as many practitioners as it does in other countries. The
specific recommendations from the first Gathering Storm report can be succinctly summarized as:
• Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K–12 science and mathematics
education;
• Sustain and strengthen the nation’s commitment to long-term basic research;
• Make the United States the most attractive setting in which to study and perform
research; and
• Ensure that the United States remains a leading place in the world to innovate.
Exploration of the planets can play a key role in addressing these challenges, because it is
among the most exciting and accessible scientific activities funded by NASA, and indeed by any
government agency. NASA’s planetary program has a special opportunity, and therefore a special
responsibility, to reach out to the public. Planetary exploration research has today with many other
areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: geology, chemistry, biology, aerospace
engineering, high-performance computing, electrical engineering and advanced optics, and computer
science. Planetary exploration offers a return on investment for the United States, by attracting young
people to science and technology careers and providing the kind of education and training that can
help solve major societal challenges involving science and technology. Public interest in the
exploration of the solar system translates to opportunities to educate and influence future scientists,
engineers, teachers, policy makers, and the public at large, through classroom instruction or informal
education.
In addition to the Gathering Storm report, the America COMPETES Act also highlighted
three areas of importance to the nation; planetary exploration can contribute directly to these areas.
1. To strengthen research investment and to foster innovation and frontier research.
Planetary exploration research is transformative at the most fundamental level, exploring areas as farreaching
as the origin of life, the origins of the solar system, the evolution of planetary environments,
and the search for Earth-like planets in other solar systems. Planetary exploration can drive
innovation in technology such as advanced sensors and data processing.
2. To strengthen educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (and critical foreign languages). Planetary science has broad public appeal and vibrant
1 Jon D. Miller, Civic Scientific Literacy across the Life Cycle, a paper presented at the annual meeting of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco, California, February 17, 2007.
2 The National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, National Science Foundation,
Arlington, Va., available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06/pdf/volume1.pdf.
3 NAS, NAE, IOM, Rising Above the Gathering Storm,2007.
PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION
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