1. The document discusses the evolution of the partnership between NASA and the science community over time, from initial skepticism to the establishment of productive collaborations like the Space Telescope Science Institute.
2. Key events that improved the partnership included the creation of an Astronomy Missions Board at NASA and a 1976 National Research Council report recommending a new approach to cooperation.
3. The successful 30-year partnership between NASA, the Institute, and astronomers demonstrated the benefits of collaboration and paved the way for future joint projects like the James Webb Space Telescope.
4. NASA’s First Science Advocate James E. Webb “ In our pluralistic society, any major public undertaking requires a working consensus among diverse individuals, groups, and interests. A decision to do a large, complex job cannot simply be reached ‘at the top…’ ”
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7. NASA HQ View of an Institute 1975 “… an institute could solve two problems; one pacify the ground based community, so that they’d be all the more supportive of the Space Telescope, and two, really provide an external advocate for a good operations program…” Noel Hinners
17. Hubble community maps to JWST First light The assembly of galaxies Birth of stars and planets Planets and the origins of life
18. Science and NASA From Webb to Webb, a strong partnership that matters exists between NASA and the science community, and this partnership has worked to the mutual benefit of both partners
Editor's Notes
WHAT I WILL TALK ABOUT IS A PARTICULAR PARTNERSHIP THAT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE. DESPITE THIS SEEMINGLY PAROCHIAL FOCUS, THE IDEA OF A LARGE ORBITING SPACE TELESCOPE PRECEEDED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NASA AND AS A PROJECT BECAME DEFINING FOR NASA IN MANY AREAS, INCLUDING ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE SCIENCE COMMUNITY.
A partnership is a relationship of mutual dependencies and mutual benefits, but it is always a difficult relationship
FROM THE OUTSET, VIEWS ON ALL SIDES WERE DIFFICULT MANY IN THE COMMUNITY WERE SUSPICIOUS OF THE COMPETENCE AND CAPBABILITIES OF CIVIL SERVICE SCIENTISTS THE NASA MANAGEMENT APPROACH WAS WORLDS DIFFERENT THAN THE NSF HANDS OFF APPROACH THAT THEY WERE USED TO
TO BEGIN THIS STORY, I REALLY NEED TO START WITH JAMES WEBB, THE FIRST ADMINISTRATOR OF NASA. AS YOU MIGHT GUESS I WILL PROBABLY END WITH JAMES WEBB ALSO, JAMES WEBB THE TELESCOPE. WEBB HAD A GRAND VISION OF WHAT ROLE SCIENCE SHOULD PLAY IN NASA AND WHAT ROLE NASA SHOULD PLAY IN SCIENCE.
IN REGARD TO THE FIRST THERE IS FASCINATING HISTORICAL RECORDS THAT INDICATE HOW HARD WEBB FOUGHT TO MAKE SCIENCE A MAJOR ELEMENT OF THE SPACE PROGRAM. THIS WAS NOT AT ALL OBVIOUS TO KENNEDY OR HIS ADVISORS AND SOME OF THE DISCUSSION AT THAT TIME GOT VERY POINTED. IRONICALLY WEBB, NOT A SCIENTIST, PREVAILED, BUT MORE ACCURATELY WAS TOLERATED
A MAJOR MILESTONE IN THIS DEBATE TOOK PLACE IN 1965 WHEN WEBB ASKED NOMRAN RAMSEY TO CHAIR A COMMITTEE TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW NASA COULD BEST ACCOMPLISH A SPACE ASTRONOMY PROGRAM. SURPRISINGLY AT THE TIME, THE RAMSEY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED THAT THE ASTRONOMY PROGRAM BE TRANSFERRED TO A CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITIES. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS RECOMMENDATION DID NOT SIT WELL WITH NASA, AND THEY ESTABLISHED ADVISORY COMMITTEES INSTEAD.
Over the next decade, its fair to say that the debate raged. There were a few, however, that began to appreciate the value that such a partnership might really have, one of these individuals was Noel Hinners.
IN 1976 A COMMITTEE OF THE NRC CHAIRED BY DON HORNIG AGAIN RECOMMENDED THAT THE SCIENCE ROLE FOR THE SPACE TELESCOPE BE LOCATED OUTSIDE OF NASA. THE ASTRONOMERS WHO WOULD USE THE SPACE TELESCOPE WERE THE SAME WHO HAD BEEN USING GROUND BASED TELESCOPES AND THEY WERE MOST COMFORTABLE WITH A PLACE TO GO THAT MIMICED THE OBSERVATORY ENVIRONMENT THEY WERE USED TO. ASTRONOMERS, ESPECIALLY HERE AT GODDARD, WERE STRONGLY OPPOSED.
even though science was not (and arguably still isn't) a fundamental priority for NASA, there HAS been a strong partnership that matters between NASA and the science community, and this partnership has worked to the mutual benefit of both partners.
I believe the fraction of proposals devoted to cosmology has increased with time, especially after the original Hubble Deep Field showed the value of Hubble in this area. Those HDF observations essentially opened up the field of galaxy evolution and showed that galaxies evolve strongly with lookback time - the state of galaxies at the beginning of time is a primary science driver for JWST and the direct result of these deep field observations. SImilarly, the study of dark energy, exoplanets, and a wide variety of other topics at the forefront of astronomy because of Hubble provide the impetus for JWST. (None of these were drivers for Hubble, but Hubble mad giant contributions nonetheless.) We can only begin to imagine what JWST will find and what it will motivate in the decade after it is launched! For comparison, the fraction of cosmology proposals accepted in Cycle 9 (10 years ago) was 11%, only 1/3 of today's value. So yes, cosmology interest has definitely grown over the past decade.
I believe the fraction of proposals devoted to cosmology has increased with time, especially after the original Hubble Deep Field showed the value of Hubble in this area. Those HDF observations essentially opened up the field of galaxy evolution and showed that galaxies evolve strongly with lookback time - the state of galaxies at the beginning of time is a primary science driver for JWST and the direct result of these deep field observations. SImilarly, the study of dark energy, exoplanets, and a wide variety of other topics at the forefront of astronomy because of Hubble provide the impetus for JWST. (None of these were drivers for Hubble, but Hubble mad giant contributions nonetheless.) We can only begin to imagine what JWST will find and what it will motivate in the decade after it is launched! For comparison, the fraction of cosmology proposals accepted in Cycle 9 (10 years ago) was 11%, only 1/3 of today's value. So yes, cosmology interest has definitely grown over the past decade.