NASA Needs Your Input

Hey Space Placers!

NASA wants your input as to what the space agency should be doing the next decade with regard to planetary exploration. A new report from the National Research Council (NRC) recommends a suite of
planetary science flagship missions for the decade 2013-2022 that could provide a steady stream of important new discoveries about the solar system.

As stated in a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) press release, “Our recommendations are science-driven, and they offer a balanced mix of missions -- large, medium, and small -- that have the potential to greatly expand our knowledge of the solar system,” said Steven W. Squyres, professor of astronomy at the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., and chair of the
committee that wrote the report. “However, in these tough economic times, some difficult choices may have to be made. With that in mind, our priority missions were carefully selected based on their potential to yield the most scientific benefit per dollar spent.”

NASA is seeking to include public opinion as part of the agency’s response to the Council’s recommendations.  To participate I suggest you visit the 2013 Decadal Survey website at:    http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/2013decadal and review the material there. You can then provide input to me as a comment to this column or email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com . I would like to have your inputs by April 16th.

Thank you for contributing.

Sky Guy in VA