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• Planetary Systems and Star Formation,
• Stars and Stellar Evolution
The charge to and principal findings of the SFPs are summarized in Appendix A. The individual
SFP reports describe in more detail the science priorities. 1 The work of these panels formed the
foundation for the prioritization process.
The prioritization process included projects not yet started from the preceding decadal survey,
Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium (AANM). 2 The rationale for their review stems from
a need to ensure that these research activities are still up to date technologically, that the science questions
they tackle remain compelling and a high priority, and that their cost and schedule are still commensurate
with the science return. Given the multidecade timescales required for development of major facilities
from concept to construction to operation, it should not be surprising that many of these projects have
evolved in technical and/or scientific scope since AANM, further motivating their reconsideration.
Because of the need for significant technical expertise in developing a prioritized program from a
wide array of candidate ongoing and proposed activities, four Program Prioritization Panels (PPPs) were
also established by the NRC to assist the committee in studying technical and programmatic issues within
the following areas:
• Electromagnetic Observations from Space (EOS)—activities funded largely by NASA, some with
a DOE component;
• Optical and Infrared Astronomy from the Ground (OIR)—activities funded largely by NSF and
private entities, some with a DOE component;
• Particle Astrophysics and Gravitation (PAG)—activities funded by NASA, NSF, and DOE; and
• Radio, Millimeter, and Submillimeter from the Ground (RMS)—activities funded largely by NSF
with some private components.
The charge to the PPPs and their principal recommendations for new activities are summarized in
Appendix B. The PPPs started with the SFPs’ conclusions on the highest-priority science and then
developed a program to address this science optimally. The panels also referred to pertinent NRC reports,
as well as reports from the astronomy community. The individual PPP reports contain these and other
non-facility recommendations spanning a range of scales. 3 Each panel was charged to consider only the
potential program within its designated subdiscipline. By design this approach results in a combined
program that is too large to be implemented in any reasonable budget scenario. It thus fell to the survey
committee to synthesize the panel recommendations with additional consideration for the issues discussed
in Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6, and thereby develop a merged implementable program for the entire astronomy
and astrophysics enterprise.
Cost Risk and Technical Evaluation
As an early step in the survey process (see Figure 7.1), the committee issued a request for
information to the astronomy and astrophysics community to solicit input on possible future research
activities. More than 100 responses proposed significant construction or programmatic activities.
Following an initial analysis by the PPPs, the survey committee requested further and more detailed
1 See National Research Council, Panel Reports⎯New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics,
The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., forthcoming.
2 See National Research Council, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, National Academy Press,
Washington, D.C., 2001.
3 See National Research Council, Panel Reports⎯New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics,
The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., forthcoming.
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