The end of the semester is finally here, and I'm wrapping up some things before heading out for a couple of weeks of vacation. Sorry for the quiet on the blog the last month. In addition to the normal overload, I had review panels for the National Science Foundation and the Spitzer Space Telescope, and trying to maintain a reasonable social life along with those extras stalled things. I'm still working on novel revisions, too, and will block out a few hours a day on vacation to get that rolling again at high speed -- I hope I'm weeks away from a revised draft and not still months. I have to say I was really happy with the non-major astronomy course this semester, and feel that I turned it up another notch, connecting better with students than ever before. Even though the material is easy for a professional astronomer, teaching it effectively to a broad range of students is not.
And here's the latest from the American Astronomical Society on the NASA budget. While the overall NASA budget is slightly up, the moon/Mars initiative is raping the space science that NASA has strongly supported in the past. Most of my own grant money comes from NASA, some from programs that have been recently cut back significantly.
AAS Informational Email 2006-10
Kevin Marvel, Deputy Executive Officer
Subject: AAS Statement on the NASA Budget
The AAS has released a statement on the NASA budget, which
is included in its entirety below.
Members of the American Astronomical Society advise NASA on
scientific priorities, participate in NASA missions, and
assemble the evidence from NASA's outstanding scientific
discoveries to build a coherent picture for the origin and
evolution of the Earth, the solar system, our Galaxy, and
for the Universe as a whole.
From the perspective of the AAS, the current NASA budget for
science is disappointing. Although it maintains JWST and
provides for a possible refurbishment mission to HST, the
sudden and wide-ranging retrenchments in this budget
proposal would halt, defer, or postpone programs to explore
the solar system, to observe other solar systems as they
form, to detect planets around other stars, to measure
gravitational waves from astronomical events, to probe the
edges of black holes, and to seek the nature of the dark
energy. Large, medium, and small programs have been abruptly
cut or cancelled. This change has taken place without the
broad consultation within the community that we expect when
it is necessary to shape NASA's program in times of finite
resources. This seems unwise, wasteful of effort, and
damaging to the nation's ability to develop its capabilities
in science.
There is broad and growing understanding in the Congress, as
evidenced by the Protecting America's Competitive Edge
(PACE) legislation, that America's future depends on living
by our wits in a competitive world. NASA science has been a
bright light, helping to inspire an interest in science and
engineering for generations of students. More directly, it
has been a great success in its own terms-generating a
profound new understanding of the Universe we live in. It is
a mistake to suddenly diminish this successful program while
it is producing so many good results for NASA and holds such
promise for future discovery. For AAS members, the proposed
cuts in NASA's support for science more than offset the
increases that have been aimed at improving America's
competitiveness through support for the same type of work by
the NSF, DOE, and NIST. A coherent effort to improve science
and engineering in the US would treat NASA's science program
as part of the solution.
The AAS and its members are prepared to work with Congress
and with NASA to help find the best path to the future. The
AAS strongly supports the PACE-acts, which call for
significant increases for physical science research,
including a 10% increase for NASA basic research in each of
the next five years as well as new initiatives in science
education. We are prepared to offer our best advice and to
work diligently to make the most of NASA's investment in
science.