Review of the Draft 2014 Science Mission Directorate Science Plan

At the request of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD), the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Space Studies Board (SSB) initiated a study to review a draft of the SMD’s 2014 Science Plan. The request for this review was made at a time when NASA is engaged in the final stages of a comprehensive, agency-wide effort to develop a new strategic plan and at a time when NASA’s budget is under considerable stress. SMD’s Science Plan serves to provide more detail on its four traditional science disciplines—astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space physics (also called heliophysics), planetary science, and Earth remote sensing and related activities—than is possible in the agency-wide Strategic Plan. In conducting its review of the draft Science Plan, the Committee on the Assessment of the NASA Science Mission Directorate 2014 Science Plan was charged to comment on the following specific areas: • Responsiveness to the NRC’s guidance on key science issues and opportunities in recent NRC reports; • Attention to interdisciplinary aspects and overall scientific balance; • Identification and exposition of important opportunities for partnerships as well as education and public outreach; • Integration of technology development with the science program; • Clarity on how the plan aligns with SMD’s strategic planning process; • General readability and clarity of presentation; and • Other relevant issues as determined by the committee. The main body of the report provides detailed findings and recommendations relating to the draft Science Plan. The highest-level, crosscutting issues are summarized here, and more detail is available in the main body of the report.