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Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
32
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Research Equipment and Facilities Construction line). The Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar
(AMISR) is an example of a midscale project widely seen to have transformed research in ground-based
solar and space physics.
Although different NSF directorates have programs to support unsolicited midscale projects at various
levels, these may be overly prescriptive and uneven in their availability, and practical gaps in proposal
opportunities and funding levels may be limiting the effectiveness of midscale research across the agency.
It is unclear, for instance, how projects like the AMISR would be initiated and accomplished in the future,
because no budget line is available that matches this scale of facility development. Mechanisms for the
continued funding of management and operations at existing midscale facilities are also not entirely clear.
In addition, there is a need for a means of funding midscale projects, many of which have been identified by this decadal survey committee as cost-effective additions of high priority to the overall program.
These include the Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR), the Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory
(COSMO), and several other projects exemplifying the kind of creative approaches that are necessary to fill
gaps in observational capabilities and to move the survey’s integrated science strategy forward. A mid-scale
funding line will have a major impact on conducting science at ground-based facilities, and it would rejuvenate broadly utilized assets by taking advantage of innovations to address key science challenges. DRIVE
“Diversify” includes a recommendation for a new, competitively selected midscale funding line at NSF.
Small Space Missions
Since the 2003 decadal survey, 9 a new experimental capability has emerged for very small spacecraft,
which can act as stand-alone measurement platforms or can be integrated into a greater whole. These
platforms are enabled by innovations in miniature, low-power, highly integrated electronics and nanoscale
manufacturing techniques, and they provide potentially revolutionary approaches to experimental space
science. For example, small, low-cost satellites may be deployed into regions where satellite lifetimes are
short but where important, hitherto insufficiently characterized scientific linkages take place. The vulnerability of microsatellites to this radiation environment is also of interest from a space-weather viewpoint.
NSF’s CubeSats initiative promotes science done by very small satellites, and the enthusiastic response
from the university community argues for a launch cadence greater than the current one per year. DRIVE
“Diversify” includes a recommendation targeting the development of very-small-satellite flight opportunities as a key growth area for both NASA and NSF.
NASA’s Explorer space projects have proven historically to be highly successful and cost-effective,
providing insights into both the remotest parts of the universe and the detailed dynamics of Earth’s local
space environment. The 1997 Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) now stands as a sentinel to measure,
in situ, transient disturbances from the Sun and the energetic particles that are a danger to humans in
space. RHESSI and the recently retired TRACE spacecraft study the dynamics of the solar corona, where
large flares and potentially damaging solar storms originate. The relatively recently launched THEMIS
constellation and the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission were both accomplished under the aegis
of the Explorer program and are revolutionizing understanding of magnetospheric dynamics and global
atmospheric changes, respectively. IBEX, which observes the heliospheric boundary from high Earth orbit,
found a bright ribbon of energetic neutral atom emission whose origin is requiring reconsideration of
fundamental concepts of the heliosphere and local interstellar medium interaction. The Interface Region
Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the most recently selected Heliophysics Explorer, will explore the flow of
9 National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003; and National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: Panel
Reports, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
32
SOLAR AND SPACE PHYSICS: A SCIENCE FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Research Equipment and Facilities Construction line). The Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar
(AMISR) is an example of a midscale project widely seen to have transformed research in ground-based
solar and space physics.
Although different NSF directorates have programs to support unsolicited midscale projects at various
levels, these may be overly prescriptive and uneven in their availability, and practical gaps in proposal
opportunities and funding levels may be limiting the effectiveness of midscale research across the agency.
It is unclear, for instance, how projects like the AMISR would be initiated and accomplished in the future,
because no budget line is available that matches this scale of facility development. Mechanisms for the
continued funding of management and operations at existing midscale facilities are also not entirely clear.
In addition, there is a need for a means of funding midscale projects, many of which have been identified by this decadal survey committee as cost-effective additions of high priority to the overall program.
These include the Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR), the Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory
(COSMO), and several other projects exemplifying the kind of creative approaches that are necessary to fill
gaps in observational capabilities and to move the survey’s integrated science strategy forward. A mid-scale
funding line will have a major impact on conducting science at ground-based facilities, and it would rejuvenate broadly utilized assets by taking advantage of innovations to address key science challenges. DRIVE
“Diversify” includes a recommendation for a new, competitively selected midscale funding line at NSF.
Small Space Missions
Since the 2003 decadal survey, 9 a new experimental capability has emerged for very small spacecraft,
which can act as stand-alone measurement platforms or can be integrated into a greater whole. These
platforms are enabled by innovations in miniature, low-power, highly integrated electronics and nanoscale
manufacturing techniques, and they provide potentially revolutionary approaches to experimental space
science. For example, small, low-cost satellites may be deployed into regions where satellite lifetimes are
short but where important, hitherto insufficiently characterized scientific linkages take place. The vulnerability of microsatellites to this radiation environment is also of interest from a space-weather viewpoint.
NSF’s CubeSats initiative promotes science done by very small satellites, and the enthusiastic response
from the university community argues for a launch cadence greater than the current one per year. DRIVE
“Diversify” includes a recommendation targeting the development of very-small-satellite flight opportunities as a key growth area for both NASA and NSF.
NASA’s Explorer space projects have proven historically to be highly successful and cost-effective,
providing insights into both the remotest parts of the universe and the detailed dynamics of Earth’s local
space environment. The 1997 Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) now stands as a sentinel to measure,
in situ, transient disturbances from the Sun and the energetic particles that are a danger to humans in
space. RHESSI and the recently retired TRACE spacecraft study the dynamics of the solar corona, where
large flares and potentially damaging solar storms originate. The relatively recently launched THEMIS
constellation and the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission were both accomplished under the aegis
of the Explorer program and are revolutionizing understanding of magnetospheric dynamics and global
atmospheric changes, respectively. IBEX, which observes the heliospheric boundary from high Earth orbit,
found a bright ribbon of energetic neutral atom emission whose origin is requiring reconsideration of
fundamental concepts of the heliosphere and local interstellar medium interaction. The Interface Region
Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), the most recently selected Heliophysics Explorer, will explore the flow of
9 National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: A Decadal Research Strategy in Solar and Space Physics, The
National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003; and National Research Council, The Sun to the Earth—and Beyond: Panel
Reports, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.