Review of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Plan

Consensus

Download PDF

NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) ties together diverse researchers, sponsors, and resources to develop the science community's understanding of the universe. Within scientific organizations like NASA, it is important to establish clear strategies and goals to guide research and foster new discoveries across varying missions. SMD created a draft for their 2019 Science Plan, and a review of this draft is necessary to ensure that the plan establishes clear, attainable, relevant, and ambitious goals.

Review of the Draft 2019 Science Mission Directorate Science Plan provides comments on and recommendations for SMD's draft. Comments in this report focus on the level of ambition of the specified strategies in light of current and emerging opportunities to advance Earth and space science over the next 5 years, the ability of SMD to meet the science objectives in the most recent decadal surveys through implementation of specified strategies, additional strategies for SMD's considerations, and the general readability and clarity of the draft. Recommendations in this report identify important improvements for the 2019 Science Plan.

Publication information

38 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-49836-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/25587

Suggested citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2019. Review of the Draft 2019 Science Mission Directorate Science Plan. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Import this citation to:

Jeff Dozier

JEFF DOZIER is a Distinguished Professor at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He founded the Bren School and served as its first dean for six years. His research interests are in the fields of snow hydrology, Earth-system science, remote sensing, and information systems. He has led interdisciplinary studies in two areas: one addresses hydrologic science, environmental engineering, and social science in the water environment; the other involves the integration of environmental science and remote sensing with computer science and technology. He was a principal investigator on the Landsat 4 and 5 programs, when the satellites carrying the first Landsat Thematic Mapper instruments were launched. He served as the senior project scientist for NASA’s Earth Observing System when the configuration for the system was established. He is a fellow of the AGU and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the NASA Public Service Medal. He also helped Disney Animation Studios win the 2014 Oscar for Best Animated Feature, for the film Frozen. He received a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Michigan. He has previously served on many Academies’ committees and has chaired eight of them.

Steven J. Battel

STEVEN J. BATTEL, NAE, is president of Battel Engineering, and provides engineering, development, and review services to NASA, the Department of Defense, and university and industrial clients. His areas of specialization include program management, cost and schedule evaluation, systems engineering, advanced technology development, spacecraft avionics, power systems, high-voltage systems, precision electronics, and scientific instrument design. He developed scientific instruments for recent space missions including Curiosity, Mars-Phoenix, Cassini, HST, LADEE, MAVEN, ExoMars and Mars2020. Mr. Battel was a member of the Hubble Space Telescope External Readiness Review Team for SM-2, SM3A, SM3B and SM4; the AXAF/Chandra Independent Assessment Team; the TDRS-H/I/J Independent Review Team; the Mars Polar Lander Failure Review Board; and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Genesis Failure Review Board. He is a current or former member of more than 80 review boards for NASA missions. Prior to Battel Engineering, he worked as an engineer, researcher, and manager at the University of Michigan, the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Battel is a fellow of the AIAA and AAAS and a member of Sigma Xi. He is currently a member of the AURA Space Telescope Institute Council. He has previously served on an Academies’ Committee.

Victoria E. Hamilton

VICTORIA E. HAMILTON (vice chair) is a staff scientist and acting section manager at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in the Department of Space Studies. Hamilton has extensive experience with laboratory spectroscopy and Mars data analysis, as an affiliate of the Mars Global Surveyor TES science team, and as a participating scientist on the Mars Odyssey and Mars Science Laboratory missions. She is a science team co-investigator and deputy instrument scientist on the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. She has published on laboratory mineral and meteorite spectroscopy, numerical modeling of infrared spectra, martian surface composition, martian atmospheric aerosol composition, and surface thermophysical properties. Hamilton has built, operated, and managed a NASA-supported spectroscopy laboratory equipped with three spectrometers for measuring visible, near infrared, and thermal infrared properties of rocks, minerals, and meteorites in reflectance and emission. She has received the NASA Group Achievement Award for the MSL Science Office Development and Operations Team. She received her Ph.D. in geology from Arizona State University. She has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Melissa A. McGrath

MELISSA A. McGRATH is a senior scientist at the SETI Institute. Her research expertise includes planetary and satellites atmospheres and magnetospheres, particularly imaging and spectroscopic studies of Jupiter’s Galilean satellites. She is currently a co-investigator on the Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument on the ESA JUICE mission to Ganymede, as well as a co-investigator on two instruments for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. Previously, McGrath served as chief scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. McGrath has served as the chair of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences; as president of the International Astronomical Union’s Commission 16 (Physical Studies of Planets and Satellites); and as scientific editor for both The Astronomical Journal and the Astrophysical Journal Letters. McGrath has been awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; the NASA Superior Accomplishment Award; and the NASA Ames Honor Award in Lunar Science. Dr. McGrath earned her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Virginia. She has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Anna M. Michalak

ANNA M. MICHALAK is a faculty member in the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science. She is also a professor in the Department of Earth System Science at Stanford University. Prior to joining Carnegie, she was the Frank and Brooke Transue Faculty Scholar and associate professor at the University of Michigan. Dr. Michalak studies the cycling and emissions of greenhouse gases at urban to global scales—scales directly relevant to informing climate and policy—primarily through the use of atmospheric observations. She also explores climate change impacts on freshwater and coastal water quality via influences on nutrient delivery to, and on conditions within, water bodies. Her approach is focused on the development of spatiotemporal statistical data fusion methods that optimize the use of limited in situ and satellite data. She is the lead author of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan, a former editor of the journal Water Resources Research, chair of the scientific advisory board for the European Integrated Carbon Observation System, member of the OCO-2 science team, and former member of the NASA Advisory Council Early Science Subcommittee. Michalak is the recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (nominated by NASA), the NSF CAREER award, and the Leopold Fellowship in environmental leadership, among other recognitions. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in civil and environmental engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. in environmental engineering from the University of Guelph, Canada. Dr. Michalak has served on an Academies’ Committee.

Robyn Millan

ROBYN MILLAN is a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. She previously held research appointments at Dartmouth and at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Millan’s research includes the use of high-altitude scientific balloon experiments and CubeSats to study Earth’s radiation belts. She was principal investigator (PI) for the Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL), and is currently the PI for REAL (Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss), a Cubesat that will make high time resolution measurements of electron pitch angle and energy distributions in low Earth orbit in order to characterize the mechanisms responsible for scattering radiation belt electrons. Dr. Millan received her Ph.D. in physics at the University of California, Berkeley. She has served as secretary for the Space Physics and Aeronomy section of the American Geophysical Union. Previously, she has served as co-chair for the COSPAR Scientific Roadmap on Small Satellites for Space Science. Dr. Millan is a recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Public Achievement Medal and Dartmouth's John M. Manley Huntington Award for Newly Promoted Faculty. She has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Preethi Nair

PREETHI NAIR is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. She is an observational astronomer interested in the formation and evolution of galaxies. Her research is particularly focused on advanced analysis of data produced in large surveys as a method to explore the evolution of galaxies. Her doctoral work compared the visual and quantitative morphologies of low and high redshift galaxies. Professor Nair received her doctoral degree from the University of Toronto in 2009. Previously she attended the University of Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology where she earned her B.S. and M.S. respectively. Nair has not previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Tuija Pulkkinen

TUIJA PULKKINEN, NAS, is chair of and professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering. Her research interests cover widely solar wind – magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, storm and substorm dynamics, energy and plasma transport from the solar wind into the magnetosphere - ionosphere system, and auroral region electrodynamics and its coupling to the magnetosphere. Previously, she served as professor, vice president, and dean of the School of Electrical Engineering at the Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. Prior to her association with Aalto University, she was a scientist, unit head, and research professor at the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Helsinki, Finland. She has been awarded the EGU Julius Bartels Medal, the AGU Fellowship and James B. Macelwane Medal, Academia Europaea, associate of the Royal Astronomical Society, and Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters. She earned her Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Helsinki. She has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Keivan G. Stassun

KEIVAN G. STASSUN is the Stevenson Endowed professor of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University. He is also the founding director of the Vanderbilt Initiative in Data-intensive Astrophysics (VIDA). His research focuses on the formation of stars and planetary systems, which increasingly involves approaches at the interface of astronomy, physics, computer science, and informatics. Stassun has served as the general councilor of the American Physical Society and as chair of the American Astronomical Society's Committee on the Status of Minorities. He’s known for his leadership and distinction as a scientist and as an innovator in broadening the participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. Stassun received the 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. He earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Stassun has served on the Academies’ Ford Foundation Fellowships Review Panel on Physical Sciences, Mathematics & Computer Science, the Committee on Understanding and Addressing the Underrepresentation of Women in Particular Science and Engineering Disciplines, the Committee on the Effective Mentoring in STEMM, and as a member of the Astro2010 Decadal Survey Infrastructure Study Group on Education and Public Outreach. Stassum has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Mark H. Thiemens

MARK H THIEMENS NAS, is the Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Chancellor's Associates Chair in the department of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. His research is centered on use of the mass independent fractionation process for stable isotopes to study the origin and evolution of the solar system, definition of the source and transformation of greenhouse gases in the troposphere, chemistry of the stratosphere and mesosphere, chemistry of the ancient Martian atmosphere, and the origin and evolution of oxygen-ozone and life in the Earth's Precambrian. He earned his Ph.D. in geophysics from Florida State University. He has served on numerous boards and committees of the National Academies including, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, PNAS Editorial Board, and the Committee on the Review of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample-Return Missions. Thiemens has previously served on an Academies’ committee.

Log In

Sign in to access your saved publications, downloads, and email preferences.

Former MyNAP users: You'll need to reset your password on your first login to MyAcademies. Click "Forgot password" below to receive a reset link via email. Having trouble? Visit our FAQ page to contact support.

Members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, or National Academy of Medicine should log in through their respective Academy portals.

Email (required)
Password (required)

Don't have an account?

Register

Email (required)
New password (required)
Retype password (required) Password must be at least 8 characters
I accept the terms of use
terms of use

Thank You

Thank you for creating a MyAcademies account!

Enjoy free access to thousands of National Academies' publications, a 10% discount off every purchase, and build your personal library.

Forgot Password

Enter the email address for your MyAcademies (formerly MyNAP) account to receive password reset instructions.

Reset Requested

We sent password reset instructions to your email . Follow the link in that email to create a new password. Didn't receive it? Check your spam folder or contact us for assistance.

Reset Password

New password (required)
Retype password (required) Password must be at least 8 characters

Reset Password

Your password has been reset.

Log In

Verify email

Verify Your Email Address

We sent a verification link to your email. Please check your inbox (and spam folder) and follow the link to verify your email address. If you did not receive the email, you can request a new verification link below

Subscribe

First Name
Last Name
Email (required)
I agree to receive emails from the National Academies (required)

We respect your privacy and will never share your information.

Review of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Plan

Featured publication

Description

Collaborators

Committee

Sponsors

Staff

Major units and sub-units

Contact

Contact us

Provide feedback

Request materials

More like this

Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Health Care Financing to Improve Availability of Affordable Contraception: Identifying Promising Practices

Transit Cooperative Research Program

Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Aeronautics, Space, and Astronomy Program Area

21st Century Tools at the Interface of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Science and Quantum Information Science (QIS): Report Series--Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences

Frontiers of Metastable Materials Development Using Artificial Intelligence: A Workshop

Publication information

Suggested citation

My Academies

Review of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Plan

Dropdown items

Featured publication

Review of the Draft 2019 Science Mission Directorate Science Plan

Description

Collaborators

Committee

Sponsors

Staff

Major units and sub-units

Contact

Contact us

Provide feedback

Request materials

More like this

Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Health Care Financing to Improve Availability of Affordable Contraception: Identifying Promising Practices

Transit Cooperative Research Program

Review of the draft United by Nature assessment

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14

Aeronautics, Space, and Astronomy Program Area

21st Century Tools at the Interface of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Science and Quantum Information Science (QIS): Report Series--Committee on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Sciences

Frontiers of Metastable Materials Development Using Artificial Intelligence: A Workshop