The Board on Physics and Astronomy is the Academies' principal forum for issues connected with the fields of physics and astronomy.

Astro 2010 Decadal Survey is Beginning—Chair appointed and panel membership nominations has closed Dr. Roger D. Blandford of Stanford University has been appointed by the NRC to chair the Astro2010 decadal survey committee. Nominations for panel membership closed on October 30, 2008. Panel chairs as well as committee and panel members will be drawn from the pool of nominations. The survey committee will decide on the panel structure at its first meeting.

November 2008 The Board on Physics and Astronomy held its fall meeting at the Beckman Center of The National Academies in Irvine, CA on November 1-2, 2008. The Committee on Understanding the Impact of Selling the U.S. Helium Reserve (UISHR) will hold its third committee meeting on November 3-5, 2008 at the Beckman Center of The National Academies in Irvine, CA. The Committee on Radio Frequencies will hold its fall meeting at the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA on November 19, 2008. October 2008 Suggestions for membership on the upcoming Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 decadal panels have now closed. The Plasma Science Committee held its fall meeting at the Keck center of The National Academies in Washington, DC on October 10-11, 2008. The Solid State Sciences Committee held its fall meeting at the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA on October 23-24, 2008. September 2008 Suggestions for membership on the upcoming Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Decadal Survey Committee have now closed. After a period of dormancy during the writing of the AMO 2010 report, Controlling the Quantum World, the Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences is now being reestablished and the NRC is currently considering the appointment of members! Suggestions for membership can be sent to bpa@nas.edu before September 19, 2008. August 2008 The Committee on Understanding the Impact of Selling the U.S. Helium Reserve (UISHR) held its second committee meeting on August 20-22, 2008 at the Keck Center of The National Academies in Washington, DC. The summer 2008 newsletter, Issues in Physics and Astronomy, has been released! July 2008 On July 29, the Committee to Review U.S. ITER Science Participation Planning Process (CRISPPP) completed the prepublication version of its final report, “A Review of the DOE Plan for U.S. Fusion Community Participation in the ITER Program,” which is available for free download at the National Academies Press website. Nominations for chair of the upcoming Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey closed on July 9, 2008. The Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences (RIPLS) Committee held its fourth meeting on July 29-31, 2008 at the University of California at Berkeley, in Berkeley, CA. PAST NEWS... The Summer 2008 edition of the BPA newsletter has been released!				Board Membership
				Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship at the BPA
				BPA Strategy
				BPA Newsletter
				BPA Meeting Schedule and Agendas:
				April 23-24, 2010		November 6-7, 2010
				April 24-25, 2009		November 7-8, 2009
				April 25-26, 2008		November 1-2, 2008
				April 27-28, 2007		November 3-4, 2007
				April 21-22, 2006		November 4-5, 2006
				April 29-30, 2005		November 6-7, 2005
				Study Committees Home pages for BPA study committees.
				Reports Publications of the BPA and its committees
				Upcoming meetings:
				Helium			November 3-5, 2008
				Radio Frequencies			November 19, 2008
				2008 Reports
				A Review of the DOE Plan for U.S. Fusion Community Participation in the ITER Program (July 2008, prepublication version)
				Inspired by Biology: From Molecules to Materials to Machines (June 2008)
				2007 Reports:
				Handbook of Frequency Allocations and Spectrum Protection for Scientific Uses (March 2007)
				Scientific Opportunities with a Rare-Isotope Facility in the United States (April 2007)
				Controlling the Quantum World: The Science of Atoms, Molecules, and Photons (May 2007)
				The National Science Foundation's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Program: Looking Back, Moving Forward (October 2007)
				Plasma Science: Advancing Knowledge in the National Interest (December 2007)
				Condensed-Matter and Materials Physics: The Science of the World Around Us (December 2007)
				NASA's Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation (December 2007)
				Past BPA Reports
				American Physical Society
				American Astronomical Society
				Office of Science and Technology Policy
				National Science Foundation
				Department of Energy
				DOE Office of Science
				National Aeronautics and Space Administration