Europa lander

Committee praises NASA’s planetary science program but raises some concerns

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NASA has done a good job implementing the recommendations of its latest planetary science decadal survey despite past budget problems, but needs to improve some programs, a recent report concluded.

Missions People Decadal SurveyDiscoveryEuropaMars 2020NASANew Frontiersplanetary science
The telescope’s combined science instruments and optical element exits the massive thermal vacuum testing chamber after about 100 days of cryogenic testing inside it. Scientists and engineers at Johnson Space Center put JWST through a series of tests designed to ensure the telescope functioned as expected in an extremely cold, airless environment akin to that of space. Credit: NASA

Senate science hearing debates effectiveness of decadal surveys

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A Senate hearing Aug. 1 intended to discuss NASA’s search for life beyond Earth turned into a discussion about the long-standing process the scientific community uses to prioritize missions.

Missions Policy & Politics Decadal SurveyJWSTNASASenate
LUVOIR

NASA imposes cost caps on astrophysics flagship studies

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NASA has directed teams studying proposed flagship-class missions for the next astrophysics decadal survey to fit their concepts within cost caps that could force major changes to their designs.

Missions Policy & Politics astrophysicsDecadal SurveyNASA
So far, NASA has launched just one of the 15 missions recommended in the 2007 Earth science decadal survey: the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, mission. The $915 million mission launched Jan. 31, 2015. Less than six months later, its radar failed but its radiometer continues to function.

First-ever Earth science decadal survey was a call to action

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To gauge the impact of the National Academies’ first Earth science decadal survey, it’s important to look beyond its list of 15 recommended missions and consider the warning the panel began conveying in its 2005 interim report: The U.S. Earth-observing program was in danger of collapse.

From the Magazine Decadal SurveyICESat-2NASASMAP
JWST thermal vacuum chamber

Astronomers meet amid questions about the status of NASA flagship missions

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Scientists gathering this week for the country’s largest astronomy meeting will discuss plans for future space telescopes, while raising questions about the status of upcoming missions.

Missions Decadal SurveyJWSTNASAWFIRST
Soil Moisture Active Passive is the only one of 15 NASA Earth science missions recommended in the 2007 decadal survey that has flown. Credit: NASA

What happened to the 2007 Earth science decadal survey missions?

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Ten years after the National Academies published the first Earth science decadal survey, NASA has flown one of the 15 recommended missions with two more scheduled to launch in 2018.

Missions Decadal SurveyEarth ScienceNASA