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

Preface
Strategic planning activities within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) draw heavily on
reports issued by the National Research Council (NRC), particularly those from the Space Studies Board
(SSB). Prime among these SSB inputs is identification of priority science and missions in the so-called
decadal surveys. The last such study covering SMD’s activities in the planetary sciences, New Frontiers
in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy, was published in 2003. That comprehensive
study—the first true decadal strategy for this field—canvased planetary science activities, listed the key
science questions, and recommended specific spacecraft missions for the period 2003-2013.
Supplemented by several subsequent SSB studies—e.g., Opening New Frontiers in Space: Choices for
the Next New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity (2008), The Scientific Context for Exploration of
the Moon (2007), and Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Report (2007)—
the 2003 report provided key guidance for SMD’s planetary science programs during the first decade of
the 21st century.
The successful implementation of many of the missions recommended in the preceding studies,
combined with important discoveries by a variety of ground- and space-based research activities, created
the demand for a decadal survey of the planetary sciences. Thus, in December 2008, Edward J. Weiler,
NASA’s associate administrator for SMD, requested that a new decadal strategy study be initiated
(Appendix A). Moreover, the request was seconded by the leadership of the National Science
Foundation’s (NSF’s) Division of Astronomical Sciences. Specific tasks outlined in the request included
the following:
• An overview of planetary science—what it is, why it is a compelling undertaking, and the
relationship between space- and ground-based planetary science research;
• A broad survey of the current state of knowledge of the solar system;
• An inventory of the top-level science questions that should guide flight programs and
supporting research programs;
• Recommendations on the optimum balance among small, medium, and large missions and
supporting activities;
• An assessment of NSF-supported infrastructure;
• A discussion of strategic technology development needs and opportunities;
• A prioritized list of major flight investigations in the New Frontiers and larger classes
recommended for initiation over the decade 2013-2022;
• Recommendations for supporting research required to maximize the science return from the
flight investigations; and
• A discussion of the opportunities for conducting science investigations involving humans in
situ and the value of human-tended investigations relative to those performed solely robotically.
In response to this request, the NRC appointed the Committee on the Planetary Science Decadal
Survey, consisting of a 16-member steering group and 54 additional experts organized into five topical
panels. For reasons of consistency and continuity, the panels were organized according to planetary
objects—i.e., inner planets (Mercury, Venus, and the Moon), Mars, giant planets, satellites of the giant
planets, and primitive bodies—as in the 2003 planetary decadal survey. Unlike the 2003 survey,
however, the present survey omits an astrobiology panel; instead, individuals with appropriate expertise
were distributed among the five named panels.
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