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Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON SOLAR AND HELIOSPHERIC PHYSICS
315
Funding support for NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (and subcontractors) appears adequate to support
20 or more flights per year, double the current rate. The SHP panel encourages continued development of
new capabilities within the NASA LCAS program. High-altitude sounding rockets with three or four vehicles
can provide longer observing time and carry heavier payloads. Balloons provide the only practical flight
opportunities (because of launch-vehicle issues) for very heavy scientific payloads, such as the Sunrise
solar experiment and the GRIPS Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter mentioned above. Ultra-long-duration
balloons (the first successful flight was in 2009) promise to provide about 100-day flight times in the near
future. CubeSats can provide even longer observing times.
Conclusions of the Panel on Solar and Heliospheric Physics Regarding NASA’s Grants Program
Achieving the key science goals of this decadal survey requires establishing an effective NASA heliophysics grants program by implementing or augmenting the following key elements:
• Creation of new heliophysics science centers composed of teams of theorists, numerical modelers,
and data experts to tackle the most compelling science problems;
• A graduated increase in individual-PI grants programs to about 20 percent of division funding, primarily by increasing the size of individual grants, to realize the science returns from the space missions
and develop future ones;
• An augmented heliophysics MO&DA program to enable systems science by using the HSO;
• Adequate Phase E research budgets for confirmed missions to ensure mission success and appropriately sized GI programs as part of mission success criteria to ensure mission science productivity;
• Formation of a consolidated heliophysics instrument development program to facilitate innovative
instrument concepts and make future mission implementation cost-effective; and
• Increased funding for science-payload development, flight, and data analysis in the LCAS program
to provide urgently needed flight and training opportunities.
10.5.4 NSF-Related Initiatives
The following initiatives are based mainly on more than 30 white papers dealing with current or
potential NSF-funded facilities and programs (for a list of titles, see Appendix I).
10.5.4.1 Advanced Technology Solar Telescope Operations
SHP Imperative: The SHP panel attaches high priority to NSF’s providing base funding sufficient for
efficient and scientifically productive operation of the ATST to realize the scientific benefits of the major
national investment in it.
Justification: Starting in 2017, the world-leading ATST will provide the most detailed and most accurate measurements of the Sun’s plasma and magnetic field ever obtained. 32 The measurements promise
to revolutionize understanding of the Sun and heliosphere. Realizing the abundant scientific payoff from
the major national investment in ATST will require adequate sustained funding from NSF for operation,
development of advanced instrumentation, and research-grant support for the ATST user community. The
National Solar Observatory (NSO) will close all existing facilities except for a synoptic program, but projections indicate that the current NSO base funding will be adequate only to realize a small fraction of
32 S. Keil et al., Science and Operation of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, white paper submitted to the Decadal Strategy for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), Paper 130; K.P. Reardon et al., Approaches to Optimize Scientific Productivity of
Ground-Based Solar Telescopes, white paper submitted to the Decadal Strategy for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), Paper 224.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON SOLAR AND HELIOSPHERIC PHYSICS
315
Funding support for NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (and subcontractors) appears adequate to support
20 or more flights per year, double the current rate. The SHP panel encourages continued development of
new capabilities within the NASA LCAS program. High-altitude sounding rockets with three or four vehicles
can provide longer observing time and carry heavier payloads. Balloons provide the only practical flight
opportunities (because of launch-vehicle issues) for very heavy scientific payloads, such as the Sunrise
solar experiment and the GRIPS Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter mentioned above. Ultra-long-duration
balloons (the first successful flight was in 2009) promise to provide about 100-day flight times in the near
future. CubeSats can provide even longer observing times.
Conclusions of the Panel on Solar and Heliospheric Physics Regarding NASA’s Grants Program
Achieving the key science goals of this decadal survey requires establishing an effective NASA heliophysics grants program by implementing or augmenting the following key elements:
• Creation of new heliophysics science centers composed of teams of theorists, numerical modelers,
and data experts to tackle the most compelling science problems;
• A graduated increase in individual-PI grants programs to about 20 percent of division funding, primarily by increasing the size of individual grants, to realize the science returns from the space missions
and develop future ones;
• An augmented heliophysics MO&DA program to enable systems science by using the HSO;
• Adequate Phase E research budgets for confirmed missions to ensure mission success and appropriately sized GI programs as part of mission success criteria to ensure mission science productivity;
• Formation of a consolidated heliophysics instrument development program to facilitate innovative
instrument concepts and make future mission implementation cost-effective; and
• Increased funding for science-payload development, flight, and data analysis in the LCAS program
to provide urgently needed flight and training opportunities.
10.5.4 NSF-Related Initiatives
The following initiatives are based mainly on more than 30 white papers dealing with current or
potential NSF-funded facilities and programs (for a list of titles, see Appendix I).
10.5.4.1 Advanced Technology Solar Telescope Operations
SHP Imperative: The SHP panel attaches high priority to NSF’s providing base funding sufficient for
efficient and scientifically productive operation of the ATST to realize the scientific benefits of the major
national investment in it.
Justification: Starting in 2017, the world-leading ATST will provide the most detailed and most accurate measurements of the Sun’s plasma and magnetic field ever obtained. 32 The measurements promise
to revolutionize understanding of the Sun and heliosphere. Realizing the abundant scientific payoff from
the major national investment in ATST will require adequate sustained funding from NSF for operation,
development of advanced instrumentation, and research-grant support for the ATST user community. The
National Solar Observatory (NSO) will close all existing facilities except for a synoptic program, but projections indicate that the current NSO base funding will be adequate only to realize a small fraction of
32 S. Keil et al., Science and Operation of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, white paper submitted to the Decadal Strategy for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), Paper 130; K.P. Reardon et al., Approaches to Optimize Scientific Productivity of
Ground-Based Solar Telescopes, white paper submitted to the Decadal Strategy for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics), Paper 224.