The AWG held its Autumn meeting on 1999 September 9 - 10 at NASA Headquarters. Attending all or part of the meeting were: Armstrong, Bicay, Burrows, Fishman, Green, Harnden, Koratkar, Lester, Manson, Miller, Neff, Peterson, Stachnik, Stebbins, Swordy, Szymkowiak, Westphal, and Yorke.
The following is a brief summary of highlights.
Dr. Anne Kinney of Space Telescope Science Institute has been appointed as the new Director of the Origins Theme, effective mid-October. We look forward to working with her.
This was the final AWG meeting for a number of members who will rotate off at the end of this calendar year. Retiring members are Michael Bicay, Jerry Fishman, Tom Gaisser, Jim Green, Matt Greenhouse, Anuradha Koratkar, Dan Lester, Walter Lewin, Steve Manson, Dan McCammon, and Simon Swordy. We thank each of them for their dedicated service to NASA and the space science community over the last three years.
We welcome new AWG members Dick Miller, Robin Stebbins, Andrew Westphal, and Harold Yorke, who are attending their first meeting.
Because there have been so many personnel changes in Code SR during the last year, the discipline scientists have asked Brad Peterson to stay on as AWG chair for one more year to provide continuity. He has agreed to do this and will rotate off at the end of calendar year 2000.
At the time of the meeting, some of the cuts to the President's request for NASA that had been recommended by the the House Appropriations Committee had been restored. Unfathomably, about $250M of the current cuts are directly targeted at specific space science initiatives. Associate Administrator Ed Weiler outlined a bleak future for Code S if the current budget passes. Individual AWG members are encouraged to keep themselves and their communities informed about the budget process because the threat of serious curtailment of OSS activities is very real.
Guenter Riegler reported on proposed restructuring of the Supporting Research and Technology (SR&T) Program. The SR&T program currently consists of approximately 50 different programs. There has also been some criticism that the funding patterns do not reflect the current strategic priorities of OSS, though there is not consensus on this point.
Guenter is proposing structuring the SR&T program into approximately eight "clusters" which contain related programs. Funds could be moved among programs within a cluster at the discretion of Code SR; movement of funds from one cluster to another would be upon advice from a Senior Review panel. Each cluster would be managed by at least one civil servant and at least one IPA; the intent is to provide continuity to these programs and at the same time allow infusion of fresh ideas. As currently proposed, three of the eight clusters cover areas of direct interest to the AWG. These are:
The funding levels above are current levels. It is expected that these will be examined by a Senior Review panel in mid-2001 following a two-year phase-in.
The AWG considered the proposed concept and structure, and is generally happy with it. The only recommendation offered by the AWG was to change the name of "ASTROPHYSICS/ASO" to simply "ASTROPHYSICS", since the technology areas are defined primarily by wavelength (i.e., optics and detector technology) rather than by science theme. A letter expressing these views has been prepared for Guenter Riegler.
A related point is a concern expressed by some AWG members is that SR&T funding might become tied too closely to specific missions, in the sense that SR&T funds will be awarded only to projects that are developing technology for currently identified missions. This is a specific concern for the UV, in which there are no identified future missions in the near or intermediate term. The AWG believes that continued development of UV detector and optics should remain a priority of the SR&T program. A letter addressing this concern will be sent to Anne Kinney and Alan Bunner, with copies to Ed Weiler and Guenter Riegler.
There was also discussion about the need for a brochure, similar to but shorter than those prepared for general distribution about the Origins and SEU programs, that describes the SR&T program. There are indications that the role of the SR&T program is not broadly appreciated, and the goal would be to help remedy this. The AWG is prepared to assist in the preparation of such a brochure, and is willing to play a role similar to that played by the Origins Subcommittee and SEUS in the preparation of the strategic-level roadmaps for these themes.
Finally, the AWG is pleased to note that technology funds are being increasingly subjected to open competition, a trend that is strongly endorsed by the AWG. A letter to Guenter Riegler and Peter Ulrich expressing our pleasure in this development has been prepared.
Assuming that the Explorer program survives the budget process, the next SMEX AO will be released in October and the next MIDEX AO will be released in May/June 2000. Plans at the present time are to have a preliminary downselect based almost entirely on science, with a TMCO review to follow.
There has been some confusion over the UNEX cost cap. The AWG now understands that the cap for the next AO (to be issued in early 2000) will be $15M, including launch services (except for Space Shuttle). There had been some discussion that the UNEX cap might be as low as $7.5M, exclusive of launch, and the AWG was concerned that this falls below the minimum funding level required for a viable space astrophysics package. The AWG will continue to monitor this situation.
One of the goals over the next few months will be to establish better contacts between various OSS missions and the AWG. We will accomplish this by assigning individual AWG members to be the liaisons for each mission. It will be the responsibility of each liaison person to contact the PI and/or user's group for their mission prior to each AWG meeting to see if there are particular concerns that need to be brought to the attention of the AWG or NASA HQ. Following each AWG meeting, the liaison will make sure that the mission PI and/or user's group are appropriately debriefed. Names of liaisons and missions will be posted on the Astrophysics Working Group web site.
An issue that we will attempt to address right away is possible needs of small missions for focused work in Laboratory Astrophysics.