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

FIGURE 2.2 Images of Uranus taken with the Keck Observatory demonstrating the cloud features that
were not visible in Voyager images over two decades ago. SOURCE: Courtesy Lawrence Sromovsky,
UW-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.
The primary goals of NASA’s PSD are to ascertain the origin and evolution of the solar system
and to understand the potential for life beyond Earth. 1 These goals are advanced through a combination
of spacecraft missions, technology development activities, support for research infrastructure, and
research grants. The annual budget of PSD is currently approximately $1.3 billion. The bulk of this is
spent on the development, construction, launch and operation of spacecraft. Two types of spacecraft
missions are conducted: large “flagship” missions strategically directed by the PSD, and smaller
Discovery and New Frontiers missions proposed and led by principal investigators (PIs) (Chapter 9). The
choice and scope of strategic missions is determined through a well-developed planning process, drawing
its scientific inputs from advisory groups both internal and external (NRC) to NASA. The PI-led
missions are selected by a peer-review process that considers the scientific, technical, and fiscal merit of
competing proposals submitted in open competition: proposals can be solicited 1) for investigations at
specified planetary targets as determined through a strategic planning process (e.g. New Frontiers) or 2)
for investigations unlimited in choice of solar system target and scientific objective (e.g. Discovery).
Technology development activities (Chapter 11) and support for research infrastructure (Chapter
10) are determined through a combination of strategic planning and proposal competition. PSD’s
research grants (Chapter 10) are awarded through peer review of proposals submitted to a variety of
research programs for analysis of ground- and space-based telescopic observations, theory and modeling,
laboratory analyses, terrestrial fieldwork, and analysis of data from past and present missions.
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