Advisory Committees
AAAC: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC) is a federal advisory
committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act that advises NASA, NSF and other
agencies on selected issues within the fields of astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual
interest and concern to the agencies.
Upcoming meetings (National Science Foundation, Room 1235):
October 11, 2007 - October 12, 2007
February 11, 2008 - February 12, 2008
May 8, 2008 - May 9, 2008
October 9, 2008 - October 10, 2008
CAA: The Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics monitors the status of space- and
ground-based astronomy and astrophysics and provides assessments to the National Science Foundation,
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other institutions as a joint committee of the
Space Studies Board and the Board on Physics and Astronomy.
MOWGs: Management Operations Working Groups (MOWG's) are informal groups who help NASA maintain a close relationship with the space science community. There are MOWGs in various areas including the Planetary Systems Science/Management Operations Working Group, PSS/MOWG, the R&A MOWG, the EPO MOWG, three Heliophysics MOWGs, many others. Click here for Heliophysics MOWG news from Dr. Barbara Giles.
NAC: The NASA Advisory Council provides the NASA Administrator with council and advice on programs and issues of importance to NASA. The NAC most recently met the week of Feb 7th at NASA HQ in Washington DC and the next meeting will be April 15-17, 2008 at Stennis Space Center.Â
- February 7, 2008 : Washington, DC (NASA HQ)
- April 15-17, 2008 : Stennis Space Center
- June 9-10, 2008: Glenn Research Center
- October 14-16, 2008: Ames Research Center
See http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oer/nac/ for links to the NAC org chart, meeting minutes and presentations, and current meeting dates.
NAC subcommittees: There are five NAC Science Subcommittees covering Astrophysics, Earth Science, Heliophysics, Planetary Protection and Planetary Science. Planetary also has an onofficial site at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/pss/. Notices of these meetings appear in the Federal Register, and you can download a PDF of Vol 72 #174 (Sept 10th) edition here. This information also gets reposted on the web at places like spaceref.com. For the NASA web page with downloadable PDF versions of agendas from previous Subcommittee meetings see the NAC Science Subcommittee page.
The next Heliophysics Subcommittee Meeting will be September 24, 25 and 26 at NASA Headquarters. Preliminary agenda items include:
- Red Team Review of 2009 Heliophysics Roadmap
- 2009 SMD Science Plan
- Multi-disciplinary Science – Inter-disciplinary Science – System Science
- Instrument Development Program
- Explorer Program
Notes from the meeting held in Orlando, Florida on October 7, 2007 are now available from the above website.
The Planetary Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) reports to the Science Committee of the NAC. Regular meetings are held for the purpose of soliciting from the scientific community and other persons scientific and technical information relevant to program planning. Presentations from the Subcommittee meetings are posted on this unofficial site:
Notes from the meeting held in Orlando, Florida on October 7, 2007 are now available from the above website.
NAC Planetary Science Subcommittee, June 23-24
The Planetary Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council met on 23-24 June at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The agenda included the usual updates on the Planetary Science and Mars Exploration Programs and reports on the activities of the community-based assessment groups (MEPAG, LEAG, OPAG, etc.) There were also presentations on the Cassini extended mission, the current status of planning for Mars Sample Return and the Outer Planet Flagship.
Copies of the agenda and presentations can be found in the "unofficial" PSS website at: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/pss/agenda/200806/