14 DAY TRIAL // The international astronomical community is today holding its breath pending the release of a tremendously-important report on the future directions of development for space exploration.
Produced by the National Research Council (NRC), the new document will mention the top priorities that space sciences will have all around the world for the next ten years.
The report, which is called “New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics,” is released once every decade, and is eagerly awaited for in the months leading up to it being published.
The study focuses mostly on evaluating accomplishments achieved in the fields of space- and ground-based astronomy, as well as in the ever-more-popular field of astrophysics.
According to Space, the report will be released today, August 13, at 1500 GMT.
“In this decadal process, the community engages in an assessment of the scientific promise for the decade to come, and based on that analysis, does a prioritization of future facilities that should be built in order to pursue those goals,” says Michael Moloney, the director of the new study.
The expert is also the leader of the NRC Space Studies Board and the NRC Aeronautical and Space Engineering Board. He again reminds the world that the NRC is a nonprofit institution, that conducts its activity under a special congressional charter.
“The federal government, including Congress, is a major audience of the report, since the majority of the recommendations would be targeted at them,” Moloney explains.
“So, in this case, that would be NASA and the National Science Foundation. But the report also has an audience in the research community, and to some extent, the general public,” he adds.
The document was written by nine different panels, which were overseen by a committee made up of 23 scientists. More than 120 researchers from around the world participated in typing up the report.
“The fact that it does engage such a large proportion of the community is one of the reasons why federal agencies pay such particular attention,” Moloney believes.
“Of course, everyone has a project that is near and dear to their heart. For me I'd like to see both the Giant Magellan and Thirty Meter telescopes get significant support in the report,” says University of Arizona professor Laird Close.
“On the space side, I'd like to see NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder coronagraph start to move forward in a serious way,” concludes Close, who is based at the UA Department of Astronomy.
Follow me on Twitter @TudorVieru