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Cassiopeia -- 1999-DS |
In May 1999, CSA announced to the JSSA the budget for Space Astronomy associated with the federal funding of LTSP III. The JSSA was asked for recommendations on priorities and spending on various missions that were in progress and proposed. The Long Range Plan (LRP) commissioned by NRC and NSERC in cooperation with CASCA has in the meantime been published. The LRP identifies fundamental science problems in astronomy, identifies a suite of facilities and instruments to address these science goals, and points out the need to optimize our efforts in order to make a large impact with everything we do. At its November 1999 the JSSA passed a motion unanimously endorsing the LRP report, noting the importance of space astronomy as a large and integral part of the whole picture.
Prior to the November 1999 JSSA meeting, a JSSA/CASCA delegation (De Robertis, Halpern, Martin, Taylor) met with CSA President Evans and Space Sciences Director General Wetter in Ottawa. They focussed their discussion on the major science questions whose answers were within reach of astronomical investigations in the next decade and on how the proposed targeted suite of instruments and facilities in Space Astronomy would enable Canadians to play major roles in these investigations.
NGST figured prominently in the LTSP III at a budget of $50M (Cdn unless otherwise mentioned). However, subsequent discussions with NASA pegged the contributions at $50M US (say $76M Cdn) in value to the project. NGST emerged as a top priority of the LRP. The LRP adopted this higher budget level.
A particular focus of the JSSA has been the FIRST/Planck missions. LTSP III anticipated spending $20M to join FIRST/Planck and the LRP, which ranked these highly, adopted a similar number. With the larger budget for NGST, there was a real squeeze on what can be accomplished; the entire First/Planck participation appeared to many to be in jeopardy given the projected 10-year budget available. In consultation with CASCA, JSSA established a representative FIRST/Planck Canadian Science Steering Committee (FPSC), headed by Douglas Scott, charged with studying Canadian participation in these missions and outlining costs and options. After a number of meetings, including one with CSA officials just prior to the November JSSA meeting, the FPSC has issued its report to the JSSA at its meeting. Unfortunately, recent detailed studies have indicated greater costs for the proposed activities, which has only exacerbated the funding situation.
Another LRP priority, continued presence of Canadians in Space VLBI, has also been studied in more detail. The Space VLBI community has outlined a 10-year program with a $11.4M budget ($9.9M from CSA, $1.5M from other sources).
At its November meeting, the JSSA discussed the whole range of activities in Space Astronomy, including estimating the budget profiles of each and judging the total spending requirement versus the available budget. Canadians are already not participating in some major areas of Space Astronomy, like X-ray astronomy (of which Chandra is a recent highlight) and gamma-ray astronomy (GRO and other satellites which have studied gamma-ray bursters, etc.). Nevertheless, significant cuts had to be made in the overall planned program in order that Canada can proceed with a realistic budget for the remaining missions. The main casualties appear to be (i) the CUVIT mission (furthermore, no new SciSat proposals can be funded until the budget envelope is significantly expanded) and (ii) major involvement in the HIFI instrument of the FIRST mission.
Some recommendations that emerged from the JSSA discussions are summarized below.
a) NGST: The JSSA is enthusiastic about NGST and accepts the higher budget ($50M US in value to the project) as a reality. The JSSA recommends that an agreement between CSA and NASA be finalized at the earliest opportunity. The JSSA also recommends that the CSA pursue the attractive possibility of using ARO as a ground station.
The JSSA will continue to monitor this mission through its NGST Canadian Science Steering Committee, headed by Simon Lilly. The next major decisions concern the instrumentation complement, probably in late January 2000. The JSSA has asked the steering committee to arrange timely opportunities for discussion and feedback by the Canadian astronomical community. Also substantial Science Instrument science teams will have to be selected in an open process managed by the steering committee.
b) Planck: The JSSA chooses to distinguish between FIRST and Planck, as these are separate facilities from development to deployment and operation (they are merely launched together).
In line with the FPSC analysis, the JSSA recommends participation in Planck by building the telescope, including integration and testing (cost estimated $16M). This is a high level contribution of central importance to the mission. The JSSA recommends that the CSA enter into an agreement with ESA to enable this Canadian participation in Planck. The JSSA has requested that the FPSC restructure itself into two separate committees for Planck and FIRST (PSC and FSC), with an open call for new participants.
c) FIRST: The JSSA recommends participation in the SPIRE instrument as outlined in proposals to the FPSC and JSSA. The anticipated cost is $2.2M (primarily the cold shutter). The JSSA recommends that membership/affiliation of scientists within the SPIRE instrumentation team be sorted out through the FSC, with a view to effective Canadian involvement in both development and use of the instrument. The same applies to membership on Science Teams.
Major participation in the HIFI instrument (LOSU, at a level of about $15M) does not appear to be feasible within the present budget envelope. The JSSA therefore recommends that, while remaining consistent with the other recommendations made here, the CSA explore its budgetary flexibility so that this withdrawal from HIFI can be made as smooth as possible.
d) Space VLBI: JSSA recommends funding for the completion of the VSOP I (HALCA) mission. Further funding is recommended to (i) permit Canadian participation in ongoing international meetings which are defining the new missions (VSOP II, ARISE, ESA's proposal involving telescope assembly at the ISS) and (ii) facilitate timely development of the S3 recording and analysis system, building on the world-standard Canadian S2 system for scientific, technical and strategic reasons. A decision to participate in one of the missions is put off until a later time (anticipated to be fiscal year 2002/3) when (i) the missions become more concrete, and (ii) an expanded CSA budget for Space Astronomy might be available.
This has historically had a modest budget of about 150K per annum for balloon-based astronomy experiments. The JSSA sees this as a vital program for supporting innovative projects which mature on a time scale much less than that for the major satellites and so recommends a continuation of this budget item at this level or even a factor of two higher if required. CSA issues AOs, one expected in the next two months.
No activity is foreseen in this program in the near term, but this could ramp up with the emergence of university laboratories for astronomical instrumentation. CSA has just issued an AO.
The JSSA sees merit in setting up these prestigious fellowships for Space Astronomy (as part of a larger CSA program). This is in line with the CSA portion of a joint NSERC/CSA fellowship program recommended by LRP. The JSSA (and LRP) believe that the overall goal of attracting first rate Space Astronomers to Canada can be achieved by focusing on the merit of the applicant, regardless of citizenship. The JSSA encourages a broad interpretation to Space Astronomy activities including analysis of data (e.g., HST) and supporting theoretical studies.
JSSA recommends that CSA should coordinate activities with CASCA which has developed an active outreach program, including a CSA budgetary contribution to the CASCA program.
The JSSA supports the appointment by CSA of a professional astronomer as Program Scientist to focus on timely and effective implementation of the ambitious Space Astronomy program. The JSSA feels that a more experienced person, rather than a person in a postdoctoral position or a freshly minted PhD, would be most appropriate in the present circumstances. It is important that the person appointed stay closely connected to the scientific community, including being involved in his/her own active research program (30% --50% time commitment).
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Cassiopeia -- 1999-DS |