Aaac 2019 Report

April 28, 2019
Dr. France A. Córdova, Director

National Science Foundation
2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite 19000
Alexandria, VA 22314
Mr. James Bridenstine, Administrator

Office of the Administrator
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546-0001
Mr. Richard Perry, Secretary of Energy

U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20585
The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman

Committee on Science, Space and Technology
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable Roger Wicker, Chairman

Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
United States Senate
The Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman

Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Headquarters: 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, HI 96743
Phone (808) 885-7887 l Fax (808) 885-4464
Dear Dr. Córdova, Mr. Bridenstine, Secretary Perry, Chairwoman Johnson, Chairman
Wicker, and Chairman Alexander:
I am pleased to transmit to you the annual report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics
Advisory Committee for 2018. As you are aware, this year’s report was delayed due to
the partial government shutdown early in 2019. The Committee thanks you for your
patience, and apologizes for the delay in sending the report.
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee was established under the
National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 Public Law 107-368 to:
(1) assess, and make recommendations regarding, the coordination of astronomy and
astrophysics programs of the Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, and the Department of Energy;
(2) assess, and make recommendations regarding, the status of the activities of the
Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the
Department of Energy as they relate to the recommendations contained in the
National Research Council's 2010 report entitled New Worlds, New Horizons in
Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the recommendations contained in subsequent
National Research Council reports of a similar nature;
(3) not later than March 15 of each year, transmit a report to the Director, the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the
Secretary of Energy, the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of
the United States Senate, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
United States Senate, and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the United States House of Representatives, on the Advisory Committee's
findings and recommendations under paragraphs (1) and (2).
The attached document is the sixteenth such report. The executive summary is followed
by the report, with findings and recommendations for NSF, NASA and DOE regarding
their support of the nation’s astronomy and astrophysics research enterprise, along with
detailed recommendations concerning specific projects and programs.
If there are any matters your offices would like AAAC input on in addition to this report,
I would be glad to provide you with a personal briefing.
Sincerely yours, on behalf of the Committee,
Dr. John O’Meara

Chair, Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee
cc:
Representative Frank Lucas, Ranking Member, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
United States House of Representatives
Senator Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member, Committee on Commerce, Science and
Transportation, United States Senate
Senator Patty Murray, Ranking Member, Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions,
Senator Jerry Moran, Chairman, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related
Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and
Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chairwoman, Committee on Energy & Natural Resources,
Senator Joseph Manchin, Ranking Member, Committee on Energy & Natural Resources, United
States Senate
Representative Bobby L. Rush, Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee
on Energy
Representative Fred Upton, Ranking Member, Committee on Energy and Commerce,
Subcommittee on Energy
Representative José Serrano, Chairman, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and
Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives
Representative Robert Aderholt, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science
and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives
Senator Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development,
Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate
Representative Marcy Kaptur, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
and Related Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives
Representative Mike Simpson, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water
Development, Committee on Appropriations, United States House of Representatives
Dr. F. Fleming Crim, Chief Operating Officer, Office of the Director, National Science
Foundation
Dr. James Ulvestad, Chief Officer for Research Facilities, Office of the Director, National
Science Foundation
Dr. Anne Kinney, Assistant Director, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences,
National Science Foundation
Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mr. Dennis Andrucyk, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National
Dr. Paul Hertz, Director, Astrophysics Division, Science Mission Directorate, National
Mr. Gabriel Adler, Office of Legislative Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Dr. J. Stephen Binkley, Deputy Director for Science Programs, Office of Science, U.S.
Department of Energy
Dr. James Siegrist, Director, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, U.S. Department
of Energy
Dr. Glen Crawford, Division Director, Research and Technology Division, Office of High Energy
Physics, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. Kathleen Turner, Program Manager, Office of High Energy Physics, Office of Science, U.S.
Department of Energy
Dr. Yi Pei, Program Examiner, NSF, Office of Management and Budget
Dr. Grace Hu, Program Examiner, NASA, Office of Management and Budget
Dr. Avital Bar-Shalom, Program Examiner, DOE, Office of Management and Budget
Dr. Deborah Lockhart, Deputy Assistant Director, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical
Sciences, National Science Foundation
Dr. Richard Green, Division Director, Division of Astronomical Sciences, National Science
Foundation
Dr. Ralph Gaume, Deputy Division Director, Division of Astronomical Sciences, National
Science Foundation
Dr. Christopher Davis, Program Director, Division of Astronomical Sciences, National Science
Foundation
Ms. Amanda Greenwell, Head, Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, National Science
Foundation
Ms. Karen Pearce, Senior Legislative Affairs Specialist, Office of Legislative and Public
Affairs, National Science Foundation
Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Members:
Dr. Rachel Bean, Cornell University
Dr. Andrew Connolly, University of Washington
Dr. Ian Dell’Antonio, Brown University
Dr. Scott Dodelson, Carnegie-Mellon University
Dr. Dieter Hartmann, Clemson University
Dr. Kelsey Johnson, University of Virginia
Dr. Mansi Kasliwal, California Institute of Technology
Dr. Brian Keating, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Eliza Kempton, University of Maryland
Dr. Shane Larson, Northwestern University
Dr. Petrus Martens, Georgia State University
Dr. John O’Meara, W.M. Keck Observatory
Dr. Constance Rockosi, University of California, Santa Cruz
Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics
Advisory Committee
April 26, 2019
Image credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

Table of Contents
Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee 1
Executive Summary 3
Collected Findings and Recommendations 3
1. Introduction 10
2. Highlights of 2018 11
3. Overview of Interagency Coordination and Cooperation 16
3.1 Past and Current Coordination and Cooperation 16
3.2 Opportunities for Future Coordination and Collaboration 17
4. Implementation of Decadal Survey Recommendations 22
4.1 Priorities Addressed or Under Implementation 22
4.1.1 Space-based Projects 22
4.1.2 Ground-based Projects 29
4.1.3 Other Initiatives or Recommendations In Progress 34
4.2 Major Initiatives or Priorities Not Yet Started 36
4.3 Summary and Recommendations 38
5. GBS SubCommittee Report 39
6. Preparation for 2020 Decadal Survey 40
6.1 General preparation informed by past experience 40
6.2 Upcoming Mission Concept Development 42
6.3 Impact of the Decadal Survey Process 43
7. Budget Summary and Impact 44
Appendix A: Explanation of Acronyms 46
2
Executive Summary
We list our complete set of findings and recommendations below. The findings and
recommendations are developed and supported in the body of the report. Acronyms are
introduced in the text and are listed in Appendix A.
Collected Findings and Recommendations

1. Finding: The continuing US investment in fundamental research by DOE, NASA, and
NSF has enabled important new discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics, and
extended the access to this science through public data releases and outstanding public
interface and outreach efforts. Coordination between the agencies was particularly
important and valuable in enabling these discoveries.
2. Finding: NSF, NASA, and DOE continue to work well together to support the needs and
priorities of the astronomy and astrophysics community, both through coordination of
research programs and collaboration on large managed projects.
3. Finding: Astronomical surveys and major astrophysical simulations (for example, but
not limited to, cosmological simulations) have broader and greater impact if in addition
to the generation of high quality data sets and clear presentation of their results, the data
and derived data products are made public along with appropriate tools to access the
data products. In addition, when the software used to generate the data and data
products is also publicly available, it is more straightforward for other researchers to
produce new scientific results with the dataset, as well as to reproduce and verify
previously-reported scientific results.
4. Finding: Public data releases, including data access tools, software used to generate
the data and data products, and documentation of the data, software, and access tools,
are quite costly and deserve curation in order to realize the potential of increased long-
term impact of such availability of the data sets and related materials.
5. Recommendation: All current and planned surveys supported by NSF, NASA and
DOE/Cosmic Frontier should publicly release their data with suitable access tools and
documentation. This is consistent with the AAAC Principles of Access recommended by
the AAAC in their 2013-2014 annual report. In addition, the surveys should endeavor to
use open source code to create the data products in order that the community can learn
how those data products were created. We are aware that support for continued use of
the source code is a much larger endeavor, and the additional benefit of such support is
not clear at this time. Agencies should include in survey budgets funding to enable
adequate public access to the data, software, and data products of these surveys.
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6. Recommendation: The three agencies should coordinate on the guidelines and
expectations for the public releases of data sets, data products, data access tools, and
related software used to produce future surveys, astrophysical simulations, and
missions. The goal of this coordination should be to help researchers efficiently provide
access to the data they produce through tools useful for the broad scientific community
with minimal duplication of effort between agencies and stakeholder groups. Release
and documentation of the software used to generate and analyze the data will enhance
the quality of current and future science by enabling more cost effective reproducibility
and extension of the scientific results from the initial studies.
7. Finding: The agencies have made multi-billion dollar investments in astronomical

telescopes, satellites, and experiments over the last decade. These world class facilities
will impact our understanding of the universe for decades to come, providing a resource
for many generations of scientists. The scientific value of the data these observatories
will generate often exceeds the lifetime of the mission itself. While NASA has a history of
preserving data well beyond the lifetime of the mission, NSF/AST does not have a policy
for investing in long-term data curation. The AAAC recognizes the need to preserve and
serve astronomical data sets well beyond the lifetime of a mission or program.
8. Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that NSF develop a policy to support the
archiving and distribution of data sets generated by large and mid-scale observatories
beyond the lifetime of the individual experiments. Ideally, this policy would include
interoperability with existing archives. This policy will principally apply to the data
products from public surveys and will require the periodic evaluation of the value of
extant data sets, to ensure that resources are efficiently allocated.
9. Finding: The issue of public release of data sets, data products, data access tools,
and related software is a complicated and rapidly evolving one. A review and update of
the the AAAC Principles of Access is warranted.
10. Finding: The tri-agency and tri-project groups continue to conduct useful
investigations to explore coordination between science teams planning to use LSST,
WFIRST, and Euclid to further the study of dark energy.
11. Recommendation: We continue to recommend that the three agencies either broaden
the current discussions or create parallel discussions to consider broadly the costs and
benefits of coordination on the science areas of interest to both the Euclid and LSST
communities. We recognize that if a decision is made to plan for coordination between
LSST and Euclid during construction of LSST and to execute such a plan during LSST
operations, the budgets for both the construction and operation of LSST would likely
need an augmentation.
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12. Finding: Competing interests continue to provide a severe and unrelenting threat to
astronomers’ ability to detect electromagnetic signals from space. Without clean access
to these wavelengths, the ability of astronomers to obtain fundamental knowledge about
the universe is profoundly impaired. This is particularly important as time-variable
astronomy gains visibility (for example in detecting gravitational wave counterparts or
other multi-messenger astronomy activities). Mobile and transient noise sources form a
large and growing threat.
13. Finding: The resources currently available to the NSF and NASA are not sufficient to
protect essential astronomical wavelengths in an arena of competing commercial
interests with deep financial support and professional lobbyists.
14. Recommendation: Given their common interests in access to the spectrum, NASA
and NSF should enhance their collaboration with each other and with other groups,
including international agencies and commercial interests, to protect the accessibility of
essential astronomical wavelengths to researchers.
15. Recommendation: Efforts, ideally coordinated with all three agencies, should be
made to increase awareness of spectrum management issues among astronomers, the
general public, and government agencies. Possible agents for meeting this
recommendation might include the NSF-funded national facilities for operations at radio
and optical wavelengths. Efforts to engage and coordinate with other international
agencies should continue.
16. Finding: NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) as approved to enter
phase B would deliver the science identified for the version of WFIRST recommended in
NWNH and provide an important technology demonstrator for future coronagraphic
missions.
17. Recommendation: The AAAC continues to recommend ongoing cost assessment and
mission review of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) prior to and after
Preliminary Design Review.
18. Finding: The President’s requested level of FY 2020 funding for NASA’s Astrophysics
division is not large enough to enable both a balanced portfolio of investments in
Astrophysics and the funding for NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope
(WFIRST).
19. Finding: The proposed termination of WFIRST, as presented in the President’s

requested FY 2020 budget for the astrophysics division of NASA, would result in the
withdrawal of federal support for the highest ranked priority for space from NWNH.
20. Finding: A balanced investment by NASA in astrophysical research, including a mix

of major, medium, small, and individual research awards, is recognized by the AAAC as
the preferred path for NASA to maximize its impact in astrophysical research.
5
21. Finding: The AAAC strongly supports the federal government respecting the integrity
and importance of the decadal survey process for identifying the priorities for the
agencies engaged in supporting astronomical and astrophysical research.
22. Recommendation: In order to maintain a balanced investment in astrophysical

research while continuing to support WFIRST, the highest ranked priority for NASA by
the most recent decadal survey, NWNH, we recommend that the NASA budget be
increased above the President’s request to allow a funding level for the astrophysics
division that would enable the funding of WFIRST to continue in the context of a
balanced portfolio of investment.
23. Finding: The AAAC supports the continued development of the US participation in
LISA, following the guidance outlined in NWNH-AMA.
24. Finding: The AAAC commends the NASA Astrophysics Division on fulfilling the
recommendation of NWNH and NWNH-AMA that at least four Announcements of
Opportunity for the Explorer program be executed this decade. The Explorer program
has provided and continues to provide a valuable complement of agile, low-cost
missions in space to the NASA portfolio.
25. Finding: NASA’s TESS mission is performing at or beyond its expected level and is
currently well on its way toward meeting its level-1 science requirements. The AAAC
notes that the exoplanet mass measurements required to meet the TESS level-1 science
requirements are only partly funded by NASA and NSF efforts, with the rest coming from
private and/or international resources.
26. Finding: The AAAC recognizes that NASA’s space mission portfolio has great
potential for supporting the emergent area of multi-messenger astrophysics that has
been opened by the NSF supported observations of gravity waves. The AAAC further
recognizes that existing agency partnerships (e.g. between DOE and NSF for LSST) have
the potential of further supporting the development of multi-messenger astronomy and
astrophysics, as well as Laboratory Astrophysics.
27. Finding: JWST remains an essential component of the astrophysical science

landscape. The observatory is currently on track for a 2021 launch.
28. Recommendation: NASA should continue to allocate resources to successfully

launch JWST at the earliest possible date.
6
29. Recommendation: The AAAC recommends to Congress that SOFIA’s prime mission
be considered complete at the end of FY2019, and that SOFIA undergo senior review in
the next regular review cycle, in line with normal NASA review procedures.
30. Finding: The AAAC is gratified to see continued, significant progress toward the
highest priority decadal ground-based facility, LSST, which is advancing toward the start
of survey science operations in 2022.
31. Recommendation: The AAAC urges NSF and DOE to put in place a long-term
operations plan that will, while maintaining a balanced overall portfolio, ensure that the
US science community can capitalize on the substantial investment in LSST.
32. Finding: The AAAC appreciates and supports the work by NSF/AST to develop and
sustain the Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP). The projects supported by this
program are beginning to produce exciting scientific returns for the astrophysics
community.
33. Recommendation: NSF/AST should continue to grow and develop the MSIP program
in the context of a balanced portfolio. Care should taken to evaluate the progress and
management of these programs after the award and to ensure that the promises for
community access to the facilities and data are realized. NSF/AST should review the
impact of community access to MSIP funded programs periodically throughout the life of
the award.
34. Finding: The AAAC is pleased to see the development of the Mid-Scale Research
Infrastructure program (MSRI). The very large number of proposals that were submitted
in response to the initial call demonstrates the significant need within the science and
engineering community for renewed infrastructure to support ongoing and future
science programs.
35. Recommendation: NSF/AST should ensure that the astronomical community is aware
of the MSRI opportunities and in particular the range of infrastructure projects that can
be supported by this program.
36. Finding: Alternatives to the standard (WIMP) dark matter scenario can be explored in
a wide variety of ways, and the community is devoting time and resources to develop
new search techniques. DOE-HEP set up a Basic Research Needs group to assess the
landscape. There are potential synergies with exciting developments in the area of
quantum sensors.
7
37. Finding: The AAAC Commends the DES team, DOE, and NSF for successfully
completing DES operations and for transferring DECam to become a community
instrument
38. Recommendation: DOE-HEP should continue to pursue searches for alternatives to

the standard dark matter candidates.
39. Finding: NSF/AST has successfully demonstrated that it is often possible to secure
partners who are capable of extending the productive scientific lifetime of NSF-
developed facilities to produce excellent science while reducing or eliminating the cost
to NSF of operating these facilities.
40. Recommendation: The AAAC recommendations that the NSF facility divestment
process be completed and that the agencies work to ensure that individual investigators
are funded, in order to capitalize on and leverage the full capabilities of the new facilities
and large projects that represent such important and substantial investments by the
agencies.
41. Finding: The scientific justifications of GSMT, ACTA, and CCAT continue to be strong
and these projects are worthy of eventual support and participation by the federal
government if funding opportunities become available to enable supporting one or more
of these projects as part of a balanced program of investment by the agencies.
42. Recommendation: Efforts by AURA, and NCOA to implement the recommendations of

the OIR System Report should be supported by NSF as long as they can be
accommodated while maintaining a balanced investment across the portfolio of
NSF/AST.
43. Finding: The agencies have efficiently and effectively executed the priorities of the
decadal survey, given the budgetary constraints under which they are currently
operating. In general their prioritization of support for projects and missions closely
matches the intent of NWNH. The proposed cessation of WFIRST (top-ranked space-
based priority from NWNH) in FY 2020 would be a striking exception to the way that the
federal government previously followed the priorities recommended by the community
through the decadal survey process.
44. Finding: the AAAC finds that the GBS subcommittee report addresses the charge
questions and provides an evaluation of the important role of the GBS telescopes in the
US system in the first part of the next decade.
8
45. Recommendation: the NSF should work towards implementing the recommendations
of the GBS subcommittee, particularly those that affect the impact of the GBS system
over the next ~5 years, before the Decadal Survey recommendations take precedence.
46. Finding: strategies recommended in NWNH-AMA such as independent cost estimates

for projects, international funding partnerships to extend scientific reach, and
community outreach about the decadal survey are valuable.
47. Finding: The agencies have responded appropriately to the NWNH-AMA

recommendations regarding independent cost assessment.
48. Finding: Recent collaborations between NASA and international partners on Athena,
Euclid, XRISM, and LISA further the recommendations of NWNH and NWNH-AMA.
49. Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that the next Decadal Survey process
incorporate strategies that were recommended in NWNH-AMA to achieve project cost
control, extension of scientific reach through partnerships, and community buy-in to the
process.
50. Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that the next Decadal Survey continue to
obtain input from the community through white papers and direct engagement. The
AAAC further recommend that the Decadal Survey make every attempt to engage all
members of the astronomical community (including industrial partners, international
partners, and philanthropic organizations) and pay particular attention to obtaining input
and panel membership from as diverse a spectrum of the community as possible.
51. Finding: We find that the Decadal Survey process is important for ensuring that the
US remains a global leader in scientific exploration and technology development.
52. Finding: The funding levels appropriated by Congress in the FY 2018 and FY 2019
budgets generally positively impacted all three agencies’ ability to meet the
recommendations of NWNH
53. Finding: Delays in passing the appropriations for the agencies for FY 2019 create
challenges and added risks for the efficient management of programs, missions,
facilities, and the award of research grants.
54. Finding: Protracted periods of government shutdown have significant negative

impact on the short-term ability for the agencies to manage programs and portfolios.
Additionally, they create additional risk for personnel loss at the agencies, creating
further strain on the agencies’ ability to perform their missions.
9
55. Recommendation: The AAAC urges Congress to increase the proposed FY 2020
appropriation for NASA above the Administration’s request to continue to provide a
balanced program within astrophysics in line with the recommendations of NWNH.
appropriation for NSF above the Administration’s request to enable the Agency to
properly balance research and infrastructure funding needs to meet the
recommendations of NWNH.
appropriation for DOE High Energy Physics above the Administration’s request to
provide adequate funding for operations of and research and analysis of data from from
the numerous world-class facilities currently nearing completion.
58. Finding: The statutory deadline, March 15th, for the submission of the AAAC annual
report does not allow sufficient time for the committee to react to budget developments
that typically occur in the first two months of each calendar year.
59. Recommendation: the AAAC recommends that the annual report deadline be
changed from a fixed date to a deadline 45-60 days following the submission of the
President’s budget, so as to enable sufficient opportunity for the committee to interact
with the funding agencies, understand the impact of the President’s budget, and
formulate recommendations. The AAAC would endeavor to still meet the current
deadline of March 15th when possible.
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1. Introduction
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee1 (AAAC) was established in the National
Science Foundation (NSF) Authorization Act of 2001. Its charge is to monitor and evaluate the
performance of the NSF, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the
Department of Energy (DOE), on issues within the field of astronomy and astrophysics,
especially those requiring coordination of the agencies’ efforts. The AAAC annually assesses
progress in implementation of the recommendations of the most recent decadal survey, New
Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics2 (NWNH), its predecessors, and relevant
reports from similarly constituted non-decadal advisory committees. The AAAC reports to the
Secretary of Energy, the NASA Administrator, the NSF Director, and to relevant committees in
the House and Senate. This communication represents the annual report of the 2018-2019
committee reviewing activities in 2018 and early 2019.
A few notable highlights from the past year, both in research and in engagement with the public,
are outlined in Section 2. The cover photo of this report is an artist’s illustration of one of the
research highlights of 2018-2019, the image of the supermassive black hole named Powehi at
the center of the elliptical galaxy M87 obtained by the Event Horizon Telescope.
Since March 15, 2018, the AAAC has had four meetings, two in-person, two via teleconference.
The January 2019 meeting was rescheduled to February 2019 due to the partial government
shutdown. Representatives of the three agencies have given briefings and provided input on the
status of their programs. As we finalize this report, the FY 2019 appropriations have been
announced, and the FY 2020 budget request has been submitted by the Administration.
The AAAC notes that some sections repeat discussion, findings, and recommendations of
reports from previous years. The committee continues to find these discussions of importance,
and continues to support the findings and recommendations made.
2. Highlights of 2018-2019
Every year the AAAC highlights scientific, educational, and outreach accomplishments from the
previous year that illustrate the value of the federal investment in astronomy and astrophysics
and/or the value of the coordination between DOE, NASA, and the NSF in their investment in
Astronomy and Astrophysics. Our selections are not exhaustive or complete, but nonetheless
show the effectiveness of the community and agencies working together to realize our common
aspirations for the future.
1
https://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/aaac.jsp
2
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12951/new-worlds-new-horizons-in-astronomy-and-astrophysics
11
Finding: The continuing US investment in fundamental research by DOE, NASA, and NSF
has enabled important new discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics, and extended the
access to this science through public data releases and outstanding public interface and
outreach efforts. Coordination between the agencies was particularly important and
valuable in enabling these discoveries.
TESS launch and successful start of mission
NASA’s Mid-Size Explorer, TESS (The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), successfully
launched on April 18, 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. TESS will complete a full-sky
survey to find exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars in the night sky over a 2-year time period.
The planets that TESS is expected to discover will be some of the very best targets for
atmospheric studies with HST and JWST. Additional support of TESS Exoplanet science is
provided by NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which monitors UV/X-ray variability of stars
that hst planets, allowing an assessment of habitability. Swift-UVOT detected its first exoplanet
transit (in WASP-121 b), providing information on ionized iron in an extended atmosphere.
Ground-based follow-up to TESS discoveries will allow us to measure the masses of many
small planets and to determine whether these are rocky planets, like the Earth. The TESS
mission is currently meeting or exceeding all of its performance expectations. So far, TESS has
discovered 10 new exoplanets as well as close to 500 additional planet candidates, many of
which are likely to be confirmed as exoplanets. In addition to exoplanets, TESS has exquisite
early-time light curves of 18 Type Ia supernovae placing strong constraints on the single
degenerate progenitor channel. As of the writing of this report, TESS is approximately 3 months
away from completing its survey of the southern hemisphere, at which time it will flip to
surveying the northern hemisphere for the upcoming year. TESS follow-up observations from
the ground are ongoing, and will be a focus of the NEID spectrograph, which is being built under
a partnership between NASA and NSF.
On April 16th TESS announced the discovery of its first Earth-size planet, HD21749c. This
planet, with an 8-day orbital period, is about 89% the diameter of the Earth. It orbits a K-type
star that is a distance of 52 light years from the Earth and in the southern constellation Reticulum.
NASA’s TESS mission launched successfully on April 18, 2018 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket. The image on the right is one of the first light images released by TESS showing the
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Large Magellanic Cloud and the star R Doradus. Image credits: Fortune Magazine —
http://fortune.com/2018/04/15/nasa-spacex-tess-planet-hunter/ and NASA/MIT/TESS
Caption: TESS will survey the entire sky to search for exoplanets and other astrophysical
transients.
Image credit: https://tess.mit.edu/
New Horizons Flyby of Ultima Thule
NASA’s New Horizons mission flew past the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule at 12:33 a.m. (EST)
on January 1, 2019. Ultima Thule is the most distant object to have ever been visited by a
human-made spacecraft. The Ultima Thule flyby is also notable in representing the highest
navigation precision ever achieved by any spacecraft before. As a Kuiper Belt object, Ultima
Thule is most likely one of the pristine remnants leftover from the formation of our solar system
and therefore provides clues as to the conditions and history of this event. The images obtained
are of spectacular quality and show an intriguing shape — that of a “contact binary”, which
points to Ultima Thule having undergone a very slow speed collision in its distant past. It’s two
lobes are fused together giving it the approximate shape of a peanut.
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Caption: Ultima Thule, a contact binary Kuiper Belt object imaged by NASA’s Deep Horizons
mission.
Image credit: NASA — https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/860/new-horizons-spacecraft-returns-

its-sharpest-views-of-ultima-thule/
Kepler End of Mission
NASA’s Kepler satellite ran out of fuel on October 20, 2018, signaling the end of the mission.
Launched in 2009, Kepler was initially envisioned as a 3-year planet hunting mission searching
for transiting planets orbiting 150,000 stars all located in one small patch of the sky. When, four
years into the Kepler mission, mechanical failures brought the prime planet-hunting pursuit to an
end, the Kepler spacecraft was repurposed as K2. The K2 mission surveyed a larger portion of
the sky, albeit piecewise for shorter periods of time, using the force exerted by the solar wind to
aid in precisely pointing the telescope. Over its 9 year duration, the Kepler mission discovered
over 2,500 exoplanets and fundamentally changed our understanding of the population of
planets within our galaxy.
Caption: An artist’s rendition of the Kepler spacecraft and the plethora of planetary systems it
discovered. Image credit: Credits: NASA/Wendy Stenzel — https://www.nasa.gov/press-
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release/nasa-retires-kepler-space-telescope-passes-planet-hunting-torch
Event Horizon Telescope Images Supermassive Black Hole

On April 10, 2019, the Event Horizon telescope (EHT), a global collaboration of eight radio
telescopes including ALMA, revealed an image of the accreting supermassive black hole in
Messier 87. The unprecedented spatial resolution of the ring-like image gives a precise radius of
the event horizon and hence, precise mass of the supermassive black hole. It confirms
predictions by Einstein’s theory of general relativity. It is a feat in large-scale computing. EHT
was funded by the NSF MSIP program.
Caption: The first image of a black hole in the galaxy M87 taken by the Event Horizon
Telescope. Credit: the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
Highlights in Time-domain Astronomy in preparation for LSST

Starting June 2018, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) started publicly releasing ~100,000
alerts on new transient/variable/moving events in LSST format. This discovery stream has
mobilized multiple event brokers preparing for the LSST era including ANTARES, ALERCE,
LASAIR and MARS. ZTF discoveries are now being followed up by multiple teams and
telescopes worldwide. ZTF was also funded by the NSF MSIP program.
AT2018cow
A mysterious, rapidly evolving, relativistic explosion discovered by the ATLAS survey was
extensively followed up by a worldwide network of ground based as well as space-based
observatories. The emission appears to be powered by a central engine, possibly the birth of a
highly magnetized neutron star (magnetar) or a stellar-mass black hole.
Dark Energy Survey Completes Six-Year Mission

On January 9, 2019, the dark energy survey completed collecting data with the Dark Energy
15
Camera (DECam) on the CTIO-4m Blanco telescope concluding its six-year mission. This
sensitive map of 300 million distant galaxies and over 50 Tb of data has already led to over 200
refereed journal publications. Highlights include the most precise measurement of dark matter
structure, discovering many more dwarf galaxies and identifying the most distant supernovae.
There has also been a public data release of the first three years of data. The Dark Energy
Survey is a joint NSF-DOE program, and DECam was funded by DOE.
3. Overview of Interagency Coordination and

Cooperation
3.1 Past and Current Coordination and Cooperation

Astronomy and astrophysics have historically been areas of strong interagency coordination and
cooperation. The astronomical community has been preparing for the next chapter in multi-
messenger astrophysics, awaiting the start of the next phase of LIGO operations. The extended
Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS) and the Dark Energy Survey (DES) both
completed observations this year and are preparing the science analysis of their full samples.
Construction is proceeding on their successors, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
(DESI) and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), with DESI achieving the first on-sky
images with its wide-field corrector in April, 2019. All of these surveys received support from
more than one agency and many (DES, DESI, and LSST) are the result of coordinated
collaborative support and effort involving multiple agencies and groups of scientists. Study of
the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is a long-standing area of cooperation between the
agencies. The DOE and NSF are coordinating with the CMB-S4 collaboration and pre-Project
Design Group as CMB-S4 moves through concept planning, and for providing input to the
Decadal survey. Inter-agency coordination of the major project milestones (the CD phases for
the DOE and the NSF-MREFC design reviews) is highly encouraged to keep the project moving
forward toward construction. NEID, a NASA-funded instrument with time provided by
NSF/NOAO on the WIYN 3.5m, a facility supported by NSF and U.S. Universities, will supply
necessary ground-based support to a NASA space-based mission (TESS). These, and other
major survey projects, would not have been possible without the coordinated collaborative
efforts of multiple agencies. The agencies are also collaborating on decadal survey
sponsorship, coordinated ground-space observations, detection of Near Earth Objects, the
exoplanet research program and many others.
Finding: NSF, NASA, and DOE continue to work well together to support the needs and
priorities of the astronomy and astrophysics community, both through coordination of
research programs and collaboration on large managed projects.
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3.2 Opportunities for Future Coordination and Collaboration
In addition to the collaborative efforts mentioned above and those in progress or proposed in
section 4, we highlight here important opportunities for collaboration that are consistent with the
ongoing efforts of all the agencies, but which are highlighted here because they do not map
perfectly into our discussions in section 4. These include efforts to broaden the impact of and
the lasting availability of important data sets, supporting coordinated analysis of the results of
major independent surveys, communicating and coordinating the impact of each agency’s
portfolio (or similar project) reviews, and protecting the accessibility of the electromagnetic
spectrum for astronomical observations.
Ensuring Public Release and Curation of Data and Results from major Simulations and
Surveys:
Much of the success of the latest generation of astrophysical studies (including the results of
massive simulations) and cosmology surveys has been enabled by the scientists conducting the
research to generate thoughtfully conceived data sets, databases, data access tools, and
software for analysis and simulation of data sets in addition to producing the original scientific
data. The benefits and scientific productivity gains from investment in the tools to provide
access to the data and data products for the broader astronomical community have consistently
and significantly outweighed the cost of providing such tools. As astronomical datasets grow
both in size and complexity and the expectations for scientific reproducibility grow, it will become
ever more important to release the relevant software along with the data. These data releases,
and associated software releases, impose significant costs and raise issues of long term
management and curation.
Finding: Astronomical surveys and major astrophysical simulations (for example, but not
limited to, cosmological simulations) have broader and greater impact if in addition to
the generation of high quality data sets and clear presentation of their results, the data
and derived data products are made public along with appropriate tools to access the
data products. In addition, when the software used to generate the data and data
products is also publicly available, it is more straightforward for other researchers to
produce new scientific results with the dataset, as well as to reproduce and verify
previously-reported scientific results.
Finding: Public data releases, including data access tools, software used to generate the
data and data products, and documentation of the data, software, and access tools, are
quite costly and deserve curation in order to realize the potential of increased long-term
impact of such availability of the data sets and related materials.
At the moment, individual agencies (for example NASA) have well-defined guidelines for the
organization of data and open source software development3. Data releases throughout the
field of astronomy more generally do not follow consistent patterns in terms of how the data can
3
See NAS report http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CompletedProjects/SSB_178892
17
be accessed, what type of data is released, documentation, release of software tools, and other
practical details that impact how the publicly released data can be used in practice. As more
and more research requires access to datasets developed by missions and experiments funded
by multiple agencies, inter-agency collaboration to ensure interoperability of datasets will
become essential.
Recommendation: All current and planned surveys supported by NSF, NASA and
DOE/Cosmic Frontier should publicly release their data with suitable access tools and
documentation. This is consistent with the AAAC Principles of Access recommended by
the AAAC in their 2013-2014 annual report. In addition, the surveys should endeavor to
use open source code to create the data products in order that the community can learn
how those data products were created. We are aware that support for continued use of
the source code is a much larger endeavor, and the additional benefit of such support is
not clear at this time. Agencies should include in survey budgets funding to enable
adequate public access to the data, software, and data products of these surveys.
Recommendation: The three agencies should coordinate on the guidelines and

expectations for the public releases of data sets, data products, data access tools, and
related software used to produce future surveys, astrophysical simulations, and
missions. The goal of this coordination should be to help researchers efficiently provide
access to the data they produce through tools useful for the broad scientific community
with minimal duplication of effort between agencies and stakeholder groups. Release
and documentation of the software used to generate and analyze the data will enhance
the quality of current and future science by enabling more cost effective reproducibility
and extension of the scientific results from the initial studies.
Finding: The issue of public release of data sets, data products, data access tools, and
related software is a complicated and rapidly evolving one. A review and update of the
the AAAC Principles of Access is warranted.
Ensuring Long-term archiving and preservation of critical data: With the completion of a
number of large-scale astronomical experiments (e.g. DES, PanSTARRS, and SDSS IV) and
the construction of a new generation of surveys (e.g. the LSST, VLASS, SDSS V) the
astronomical community will have access to a wealth of data covering many decades of the
electromagnetic spectrum. The potential for scientific discovery using these surveys extends
well beyond the lifetime of an individual program, often lasting several decades with discoveries
that were never imagined in the original design of the program. Funding for the archiving and
distribution of the data that these experiments generate is, however, often limited to the lifetime
of the program itself, or a small number of years beyond the completion of observations. Many
of the programs supported by the MREFC and MSIP programs generate data sets with potential
for long-term impact but do not have data preservation plans or resources to support access to
their data beyond the completion of the survey. This represents a risk in terms of the
investments that have been made to create these experiments.
Finding: The agencies have made multi-billion dollar investments in astronomical

telescopes, satellites, and experiments over the last decade. These world class facilities
18
will impact our understanding of the universe for decades to come, providing a resource
for many generations of scientists. The scientific value of the data these observatories
will generate often exceeds the lifetime of the mission itself. While NASA has a history of
preserving data well beyond the lifetime of the mission, NSF/AST does not have a policy
for investing in long-term data curation. The AAAC recognizes the need to preserve and
serve astronomical data sets well beyond the lifetime of a mission or program.
Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that NSF develop a policy to support the
archiving and distribution of data sets generated by large and mid-scale observatories
beyond the lifetime of the individual experiments. Ideally, this policy would include
interoperability with existing archives. This policy will principally apply to the data
products from public surveys and will require the periodic evaluation of the value of
extant data sets, to ensure that resources are efficiently allocated.
In addition to preserving existing datasets, it is important for the agencies to be able to take
advantage of opportunities to greatly enhance the scientific payoff of experiments enabled by
joint analyses of the data. An example of this is the possibility of enhanced scientific return
represented by joint processing of LSST, Euclid and WFIRST.
Coordinated analysis and other synergies between LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST:
LSST, Euclid, and WFIRST, while distinct and separately funded and managed projects as
described in Section 4, enable surveys with strongly overlapping science goals, particularly in
the study of dark energy. The data sets that each will produce, while targeting overlapping
science, are unique and complementary. For some science goals, each mission is self-
contained in being able to meet their scientific requirement with their own data, but it has been
recognized for several years that the potential synergistic relationship between these missions
might enable important and additional science opportunities beyond those proposed for each
mission. Further, the data to be generated by LSST might be particularly valuable to ensuring
the realization of the proposed science from Euclid and WFIRST. The recognition of this
potential synergy led to the establishment of a "Tri-Agency Group" (TAG; an agency-only group)
and a "Tri-Project Group" (used to refer to the inclusion of project leaders). These groups have
been holding informal teleconferences every two months with yearly face-to-face meetings
focused on the potential for how analysis of the combined data sets might further the study of
dark energy. The AAAC noted in our previous report that we believe it would be beneficial to a
broader range of high priority science areas (as represented in the decadal surveys) if other
stakeholders were brought into these discussions. We continue to do so now.
In addition to the above, there are other ongoing attempts at coordination between Euclid and
LSST. Informal discussions within and between the Euclid and the LSST Project team have
occurred on whether currently out-of-scope (for LSST), low-level joint data processing could be
beneficial to some science areas. There could be many additional synergies between the
projects in theoretical and data analysis investigations, cadence, and area overlap, though this
has only just begun to be explored. The most recent publicly-available document describing
these synergies focuses primarily on cosmological science but does have preliminary
investigations into other scientific areas.
19
The AAAC recognizes that if coordination can be realized, it is likely to increase the scientific
productivity of Euclid, WFIRST, and LSST. However, currently appropriated funding from NSF
and DOE for LSST is to complete the construction of the observatory and to prepare for the start
of the surveys that led to the LSST’s high rank in NWNH. The AAAC recognizes that while
planning for operations is part of the construction budget, planning for coordinated data
analyses with Euclid during operations and executing such a revised plan would be out of the
current scope and if supported should be through an augmentation to the construction and
operations budgets for LSST.
Finding: The tri-agency and tri-project groups continue to conduct useful investigations
to explore coordination between science teams planning to use LSST, WFIRST, and
Euclid to further the study of dark energy.
Recommendation: We continue to recommend that the three agencies either broaden the
current discussions or create parallel discussions to consider broadly the costs and
benefits of coordination on the science areas of interest to both the Euclid and LSST
communities. We recognize that if a decision is made to plan for coordination between
LSST and Euclid during construction of LSST and to execute such a plan during LSST
operations, the budgets for both the construction and operation of LSST would likely
need an augmentation.
Protecting the electromagnetic spectrum for astronomical research:

The electromagnetic spectrum is a limited resource subject to unrelenting and competing
pressure from commercial, military, and scientific interests. The rapidly growing prevalence of
moving emitters, including cell phones, mobile wireless hotspots, car radars, and the
proliferation of commercial micro- and nano-satellites, compounds the problem of protecting
astronomical observatories from contaminating emission. This is especially true because the
frequency bands “protected” for astronomical use were primarily defined before the early
1970’s, based on a few key emission lines known at that time. As astronomical research has
evolved, access to spectral regions beyond the protected “oases” has become critical (for
example access to redshifted HI emission has become crucial for galaxy evolution and
cosmology).
The impact of optical light pollution has been known and characterized for decades.
Traditionally, control over light pollution has been exercised locally, which has resulted in
municipalities electing to pass “light ordinances” or codes to limit the impact on observations
with nearby telescope facilities. However, new issues continue to threaten astronomical
observations. For example, the recent transition to LED lights has created a haze of light in the
sky due to their strong blue color, which is more strongly scattered by the atmosphere. This has
led to an increase in the rate of optical light pollution that is increasing faster than the increase
in ground illumination from artificial lights themselves.
The situation for the radio/sub-mm end of the spectrum is more clear, as jurisdiction over this
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is regulated by governmental and international
agencies. Access to these frequencies is regulated by the FCC (for non-government entities
domestically), NTIA (government organizations), and the International Telecommunications
Union (internationally). Unfortunately, the process through which wavelengths are protected or
20
allocated is highly complex, and dependent on a range of political and commercial interests.
Although both the NSF and NASA have staff assigned to spectrum management, and the
National Academies sponsors the “Committee on Radio Frequencies” (CORF), the limited
resources and personnel available strongly limit the influence of astronomical requirements on
wavelength allocation. At present, the NSF represents the astronomical community’s interests
by sending representatives to NTIA and 10 of its subcommittees, and by representing the NSF
as part of delegations to CITEL (for western-hemisphere spectrum management coordination)
and the ITU. Although the representation allows astronomers a voice at the table, the limited
resources (both financial and personnel) available for spectrum protection and the increasing
influence of other interests have over the years eroded the capability of astronomers to access
uncontaminated portions of the spectrum.
Although ground-based observatories, and in particular radio observatories, are traditionally

thought of as the main casualties of electromagnetic interference, it is important to note that all
astronomy relies on protected allocations in the electromagnetic spectrum. Electromagnetic
radiation is also essential for conducting space missions. In particular, NASA relies on specific
radio frequencies to communicate with missions and return scientific data. For example, the
Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and the upcoming JWST all rely on
protected allocations to communicate with NASA. Communication over radio frequencies is also
the means by which onboard problems can be diagnosed and mitigated. The Deep Space
Network (DSN) utilizes large radio antennas around the globe to maintain communication as the
Earth rotates, and disruption in this communication could be disastrous, and is at risk due to the
competition for bandwidth. For example, JWST has been pushed to use the Ka band link due to
saturation of the X band.
Finding: Competing interests continue to provide a severe and unrelenting threat to

astronomers’ ability to detect electromagnetic signals from space. Without clean access
to these wavelengths, the ability of astronomers to obtain fundamental knowledge about
the universe is profoundly impaired. This is particularly important as time-variable
astronomy gains visibility (for example in detecting gravitational wave counterparts or
other multi-messenger astronomy activities). Mobile and transient noise sources form a
large and growing threat.
Finding: The resources currently available to the NSF and NASA are not sufficient to
protect essential astronomical wavelengths in an arena of competing commercial
interests with deep financial support and professional lobbyists.
Recommendation: Given their common interests in access to the spectrum, NASA and
NSF should enhance their collaboration with each other and with other groups, including
international agencies and commercial interests, to protect the accessibility of essential
astronomical wavelengths to researchers.
Recommendation: Efforts, ideally coordinated with all three agencies, should be made to
increase awareness of spectrum management issues among astronomers, the general
public, and government agencies. Possible agents for meeting this recommendation
might include the NSF-funded national facilities for operations at radio and optical
wavelengths. Efforts to engage and coordinate with other international agencies should
continue.
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4. Implementation of Decadal Survey
Recommendations
4.1 Priorities Addressed or Under Implementation
4.1.1 Space-based Projects

The programs and initiatives discussed in this section are roughly ordered, but not perfectly, in
reverse anticipated order of completion or launch. Ongoing programs or missions that were
highlights of past decadal surveys are included when the AAAC believed they are either still
scientifically particularly relevant to the developing new initiatives (that is they provide context)
or impact the availability of funding for new initiatives. The programs or missions discussed in
this section are all in progress or active. Programs that are recommended, but upon which work
has not begun, are discussed in section 4.2.
The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST):

WFIRST was the top space-based recommendation of NWNH, and is designed to address the
NWNH themes of dark energy, exoplanets, and galaxy evolution science. In 2012, NASA
received a telescope originally intended for another purpose by another government agency.21
The availability of this telescope, with its larger primary aperture than proposed in NWNH, led to
a reimagining of the recommended WFIRST. Concern regarding the cost and schedule of
WFIRST led the mid- decadal review (NWNH-AMA22) to recommend an independent review of
the project. In 2017, the WFIRST Independent External Technical/Management/Cost Review
(WIETR) was commissioned by NASA and their report was issued the same year. The WIETR
reaffirmed the importance of the science goals of the mission and the team’s ability to develop
and execute the mission. The WIETR report included recommended steps to bring the mission
22
cost back down to a cost of $3.2 billion. The WIETR identified options for reducing cost that
included making the coronagraph instrument a technology demonstrator, making small changes
to the wide field instrument, and identifying contributions to be made from international partners.
Even if the coronagraph were pursued only as a technology demonstrator, a significant science
capability would be delivered to the community.
In 2018, WFIRST passed its System Requirements and Mission Design Reviews, and was
approved to enter Phase B (preliminary design). The primary mission elements completed their
system design reviews and all major contracts were awarded. In the current year, flight
hardware is in production, and the mission is on track towards the Preliminary Design Review,
with a target launch date of 2025.
Finding: NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) as approved to enter
phase B would deliver the science identified for the version of WFIRST recommended in
NWNH and provide an important technology demonstrator for future coronagraphic
missions.
Recommendation: The AAAC continues to recommend ongoing cost assessment and

mission review of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) prior to and after
Preliminary Design Review.
The President’s requested budget for FY 2020 does not include funding for WFIRST.
As noted in previous annual reports, particularly in the 2017-2018 report where we addressed
the issue of WFIRST cancellation in the FY 2019 budget request (a cancellation not supported
by the continued appropriation of funds to WFIRST by Congress), the AAAC supports balanced
investments (e.g. of science and facilities on a variety of scales) by all the agencies as a method
of ensuring maximal scientific impact over time. We also continue to strongly support the federal
government respecting the integrity and importance of the decadal survey process for
identifying the priorities for the agencies engaged in supporting astronomical and astrophysical
research. Ending the funding of WFIRST is in conflict with the successful past practice of the
agencies trying to realize, in partnership with the community, the aspirations of the decadal
surveys. Moreover, it jeopardizes US leadership in space-based OIR astronomy.
Finding: The President’s requested level of FY 2020 funding for NASA’s Astrophysics
division is not large enough to enable both a balanced portfolio of investments in
Astrophysics and the funding for NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope
(WFIRST).
Finding: The proposed termination of WFIRST, as presented in the President’s requested

FY 2020 budget for the astrophysics division of NASA, would result in the withdrawal of
federal support for the highest ranked priority for space from NWNH.
23
Finding: A balanced investment by NASA in astrophysical research, including a mix of
major, medium, small, and individual research awards, is recognized by the AAAC as the
preferred path for NASA to maximize its impact in astrophysical research.
Finding: The AAAC strongly supports the federal government respecting the integrity
and importance of the decadal survey process for identifying the priorities for the
agencies engaged in supporting astronomical and astrophysical research.
Recommendation: In order to maintain a balanced investment in astrophysical research

while continuing to support WFIRST, the highest ranked priority for NASA by the most
recent decadal survey, NWNH, we recommend that the NASA budget be increased above
the President’s request to allow a funding level for the astrophysics division that would
enable the funding of WFIRST to continue in the context of a balanced portfolio of
investment.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA): LISA is a low-frequency gravitational wave
observatory that will observe at gravitational wave frequencies in the millihertz regime. It will be
ideal for studying ultracompact binary systems in the galaxy, supermassive black hole mergers
within the cosmological horizon, and testing general relativity in strongly gravitating systems.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has adopted LISA to address its science theme of “The
Gravitational Universe,” with NASA participating as an international partner. NASA is currently
investing in technology development to enable a significant role for the US community. While
participation in LISA as envisioned in NWNH was not possible in the early part of this decade,
this new plan as of 2016 for participation in LISA is responsive to the recommendations of
NWNH-AMA. The LISA Preparatory Science (LPS) program Announcement of Opportunity
appeared in early 2018 as an element of the 2018 ROSES call, with a proposal deadline in June
of 2018. Nine proposals were selected in December 2018 for funding. Together with a growing
pulsar timing array (PTA) the development of LISA will expand gravitational wave astrophysics
to black hole mergers on all mass scales (stellar to super-massive systems residing at the
centers of essentially all galaxies. These studies will address fundamental questions associated
with the growth of black holes on cosmic time scales.
Finding: The AAAC supports the continued development of the US participation in LISA,
following the guidance outlined in NWNH-AMA.
Explorers Program Augmentation: This NASA program of relatively low-cost missions,

quickly deployed, has a history of high scientific impact, including both the Uhuru and Cosmic
Background Explorer (COBE) missions leading to Nobel prizes for their investigators. A high
priority of NWNH was a significant expansion of the existing NASA Explorer program, including
24
at least four Explorer Announcements of Opportunity during this decade, each with Mission of
Opportunity calls and mission selection. NWNH-AMA reiterated that NASA should preserve this
goal to provide opportunities for the rapid realization of new scientific opportunities in space.
The 2011 Explorers call led to the selection of TESS, an all-sky search for transiting extrasolar
planets as a MIDEX mission, and NICER, a Mission of Opportunity X-ray observatory attached
to the International Space Station to study the interior composition of neutron stars. (Both TESS
and NICER are described in additional detail, below.) A second 2014 call selected IXPE
(Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) as a small explorer (SMEX) mission, which is slated for
launch in 2020, and the Mission of Opportunity GUSTO, an Antarctic balloon mission to study
the ISM at terahertz frequencies. The third Explorers call in 2016 recently led to the selection of
SPHEREx in February 2019. SPHEREx is an all-sky optical and near-IR survey mission. One
additional Partner Mission of Opportunity is still under consideration at this time. The fourth
Explorers call of the decade was released on April 1, 2019 soliciting small explorer (SMEX
class) missions and Missions of Opportunity. Assuming this fourth call proceeds to mission
selection as planned, the NWNH recommendation for expansion of the Explorers program in the
current decade will be fulfilled.
Finding: The AAAC commends the NASA Astrophysics Division on fulfilling the
recommendation of NWNH and NWNH-AMA that at least four Announcements of
Opportunity for the Explorer program be executed this decade. The Explorer program
has provided and continues to provide a valuable complement of agile, low-cost
missions in space to the NASA portfolio.
CubeSat Initiative: Beginning in 2017, NASA Astrophysics Division R&A contained budget
allocations for CubeSat development. Related to the CubeSat Initiative, in February 2018 a call
for astrophysics SmallSat studies was released. From this program, 9 proposals were selected
for 6-month concept studies, covering a broad range of astrophysical disciplines. The
SmallSats program includes CubeSats, CubeSat constellations, and other standard-form
payloads.
Finding: The AAAC supports the NASA Astrophysics Division CubeSat initiative and
NASA’s expansion of SmallSat development.
TESS: TESS is an all-sky survey to search for transiting exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars
in the sky. The level-1 science requirement of the mission is to measure the masses of 50
planets smaller than 4 Earth radii. While TESS discovers candidate transiting exoplanets and
measures their sizes, ground-based telescopes are required to follow up these candidates and
to provide radial velocity measurements of their masses. One of the facilities that is expected to
25
be used to measure the masses of TESS-discovered planets is the NEID spectrograph, which is
funded by the NN-EXPLORE partnership between NASA and NSF. TESS additionally supports
a robust guest investigator program. The first call for guest investigator programs with TESS
led to 31 selected investigations covering a broad range of astrophysical topics at the end of
2017. A second call had proposals due in mid-March of 2019.
The TESS mission was launched successfully on April 18, 2018. Following a commissioning
stage, TESS began full science operations on July 25. TESS will complete its one-year survey
of the southern hemisphere in mid-July of this year and will then execute a second full-year
survey of the northern hemisphere sky. TESS is currently meeting or exceeding all of its
performance expectations. As of February 2019, TESS was already well on its way toward
completing its level-1 science requirements. Thirty small planets less than 4 Earth radii already
had mass measurements underway, and an additional six such planets have completed mass
measurements. The TESS satellite has sufficient fuel and orbital stability to continue on for an
additional 2+ decades. An extended mission plan has recently been proposed as a part of
NASA’s Senior Review process.
Finding: NASA’s TESS mission is performing at or beyond its expected level and is
currently well on its way toward meeting its level-1 science requirements. The AAAC
notes that the exoplanet mass measurements required to meet the TESS level-1 science
requirements are only partly funded by NASA and NSF efforts, with the rest coming from
private and/or international resources.
Multi-Messenger Astrophysics: The gravitational wave observation by LIGO of coalescing

neutron stars followed by prompt detection of the source in multiple electromagnetic wavelength
bands had significant contributions from currently operating space missions. In particular, the
Fermi Gamma-ray observatory detected gamma rays from the merger nearly coincident in time
with the LIGO detection. In conjunction with ground-based observations of the afterglow
associated with GW170817, this led to the discovery of so-called kilonova emission and lend
strong support for theories identifying such merger environments as a site for the synthesis of
elements. It is currently believed that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers create the right
conditions for the r-process (rapid capture of neutrons, in relation to beta decay time scales).
This process is uniquely responsible for a significant number of isotopes beyond the so-called
iron peak. The creation of neutron rich plasma in BNS mergers leads to characteristic emission
following the merger (which creates a black hole) that ground based spectroscopic follow-up
can record. The interpretation of the spectral evolution of this afterglow hinges on complex
aspects of radiation transport in exotic matter, and has led to a significant effort in the area of
Laboratory astrophysics. Measuring the properties of highly ionized isotopes in the neutron rich
part of the nuclear chart is required to model kilonovae, and provides a key example in support
of inter-agency collaborative approaches to ultimately unravel natures most violent phenomena.
26
Finding: The AAAC recognizes that NASA’s space mission portfolio has great potential
for supporting the emergent area of multi-messenger astrophysics that has been opened
by the NSF supported observations of gravity waves. The AAAC further recognizes that
existing agency partnerships (e.g. between DOE and NSF for LSST) have the potential of
further supporting the development of multi-messenger astronomy and astrophysics, as
well as Laboratory Astrophysics.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST): JWST was the top space-based
recommendation of the previous decadal survey, Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New
Millennium (2001), and NASA subsequently committed to the project. The complexity and
enormity of the effort meant that this responsibility continued into the NWNH decade,
engendering constraints on NASA not fully accounted for at the time of the NWNH survey and
its generation of a prioritized set of recommendations. JWST will be the most powerful
telescope ever launched into space. Its four science instruments will operate in the near- and
mid-infrared, where light is able to penetrate regions of gas and dust, enabling unique studies of
highly redshifted stars and galaxies of the early Universe, and where the spectral signatures of
molecules in exoplanet atmospheres are most prominent. Follow-up with JWST of high redshift
gamma-ray bursts will enable the study of cosmic chemical evolution, tracing the abundance
patterns in the first star forming regions of the universe.
In June of 2018, a launch delay of JWST was announced, following the discovery of a hardware
issue involving loose fasteners on the telescope’s sunshield. The hardware issue has since
been rectified, and all necessary repairs have been made. The JWST mission is now re-
baselined for a March 2021 launch, with plans proceeding on target with that goal. In 2018 the
spacecraft and sunshield were integrated, and acoustic tests on the assembly were completed.
Environmental testing on the spacecraft assembly is slated for completion in the summer of
2019, and at least one additional test deployment of the sunshield is planned.
Finding: JWST remains an essential component of the astrophysical science landscape.

The observatory is currently on track for a 2021 launch.
Recommendation: NASA should continue to allocate resources to successfully launch

JWST at the earliest possible date.
Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): In early June of 2017 a Falcon 9
rocket delivered NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) to the ISS. This
mission was successfully extracted from the rocket and installed on the ISS, delivering scientific
data just a few weeks after launch. Operating in the X-ray regime, one of the mission's
emphasis is timing analysis of emission from accreting neutron stars. These observations are of
great interest for the effort to reveal the pressure-density relationship of nuclear matter, which in
turn is a sensitive probe of the strong force under extreme conditions. NASA-NSF-DOE are
27
jointly engaged in this research arena, and early results from NICER on an X-ray burst from Aql
X-1 indicate that data from this mission is opening a new part of discovery space. The power of
NICER is its high time resolution: single photon time-stamping with an accuracy of ~100 nsec in
the 0.2-12keV X-ray regime. Its energy resolution is ~1.5% at 6 keV. Working towards its key
objective, the neutron star dense matter equation of state, NICER quickly accumulated results
on others sources as well, including black hole binaries, thermonuclear bursts, accreting
millisecond pulsars, active stars and extragalactic sources. These results were presented in a
2018 Focus Issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. To name just one highlight, the
discovery of weakening quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray emission of Aql X-1 enabled their
interpretation as accretion rate variations at the inner edge of the accretion disk, as opposed to
being caused by spin-induced strong gravity effects. NICER also enabled a technology
breakthrough in the area of "navigation by the stars". The aptly named Station Explorer for X-ray
Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) used signals from pulsing X-ray sources in the
Milky Way to establish the position of the ISS with an accuracy of 6 miles. This is an accuracy
level competitive with traditional navigation techniques employed for space probes in the outer
solar system, where radio signals from Earth are weak. This new mode of navigation thus offers
a powerful tool to complement NASA's Deep Space Network of radio telescopes.
NICER/SEXTANT is yet another example of the power of synergy and the value of creative use
of resources in support of exploration. We now use pulsed radio emission from neutron stars to
search for gravitational waves and may soon use X-ray from such objects for navigation of
space probes.
SOFIA: While not strictly a space based mission, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared
Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5 meter telescope on a Boeing 747 that is operated by NASA. SOFIA
operates at mid and far-infrared wavelengths that are otherwise only accessible from space, a
spectral region covering the peak wavelengths at which interstellar dust emits and the most
important spectral lines for cooling of the interstellar medium. The most recent next generation
SOFIA instrument solicitation was released in early 2018 with a due date of August, 1 2018.
Jointly funded by NASA and the German Aerospace Center, SOFIA’s initially agreed upon 5-
year prime mission will be completed at the end of FY19. At the end of a prime mission, NASA
usually assesses the science performance, management of a program, and proposed future
science to decide on an extension of the program through a Senior Review Process, as required
by the 2005 NASA Authorization Act. The 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act, however,
redefined the prime mission length, and explicitly dismissed SOFIA from the 2019 Senior
Review. In the absence of a Senior Review, SOFIA is undergoing science and operations
reviews in late 2018 and early 2019, respectively. These reviews do not consider closeout or
cancelation of the SOFIA mission.
Recommendation: The AAAC recommends to Congress that SOFIA’s prime mission be

considered complete at the end of FY2019, and that SOFIA undergo senior review in the
next regular review cycle, in line with normal NASA review procedures.
28
4.1.2 Ground-based Projects
The programs and initiatives discussed in this section are roughly ordered, although not rigidly,
in reverse anticipated order of completion. Ongoing programs or missions that were highlights
of past decadal surveys are included when the AAAC believed they are either still particularly
relevant scientifically to the developing new initiatives (that is they provide context) or impact the
availability of funding for new initiatives. The projects, facilities, or programs discussed in this
section are all in progress or active. Those that are recommended, but upon which work has not
begun, are discussed in section 4.2.
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST): LSST is a wide-field imaging optical observatory
targeting all three NWNH science themes. Researchers will use LSST data products to probe
the fundamental natures of dark energy and dark matter, study the constituents of our Solar
System, map and understand the structure and contents of the Milky Way Galaxy, and survey
the transient sky. The highest ranked ground-based program of NWNH, and the highest priority
for the DOE-HEP Cosmic Frontier in the 2014 P5 strategic plan, this project moved into the
construction phase and the camera received DOE Critical Decision 3 (CD-3), start of full
construction, in August 2015. The NSF-funded part of the project is now significantly advanced
and the DOE-funded LSST camera has completed funding in FY 2018. An innovative
partnership in the construction of a major research facility, combining the resources of private
philanthropic donors and the federal government, the LSST survey should begin in 2022. Of the
large ground-based projects recommended by NWNH, the NSF, in collaboration with DOE, has
made the most substantial progress on LSST. In addition to ongoing progress on facility
construction (supported by the NSF) and the LSST camera (supported by DOE). NSF/AST
stated that the NSF share of the operations funding does represent a significant of the annual
expenditures of the divisions and a continued flat-funding profile would require a major revision
of the planned facility support operations in order preserve a balance portfolio including support
of the grants program.
Finding: The AAAC is gratified to see continued, significant progress toward the highest
priority decadal ground-based facility, LSST, which is advancing toward the start of
survey science operations in 2022.
Recommendation: The AAAC urges NSF and DOE to put in place a long-term operations
plan that will, while maintaining a balanced overall portfolio, ensure that the US science
community can capitalize on the substantial investment in LSST.
Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP): In response to the NWNH recommendation the

NSF/AST established the Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP) in 2014 to fund medium scale
projects which are too small to be funded by the Major Research Equipment and Facilities
29
(MREFC) line but too large for individual grants. The program is run biennially with calls in
FY14, FY16, and FY18. A solicitation is expected in the summer of 2019 with funding for FY20.
The program budget is in the $15-20M range with proposals in the cost range of $4-30M.
Funding levels lower than $4M were considered for proposals to provide open or community
access to a facility or survey dataset. 23 awards have been made to date with budgets of $600K
to $10M (15 standalone programs and 8 access awards). 21 of these awards are still active.
Funding for the MSIP program remains below that envisaged by the NWNH
Finding: The AAAC appreciates and supports the work by NSF/AST to develop and
sustain the Mid-Scale Innovations Program (MSIP). The projects supported by this
program are beginning to produce exciting scientific returns for the astrophysics
community.
Recommendation: NSF/AST should continue to grow and develop the MSIP program in
the context of a balanced portfolio. Care should taken to evaluate the progress and
management of these programs after the award and to ensure that the promises for
community access to the facilities and data are realized. NSF/AST should review the
impact of community access to MSIP funded programs periodically throughout the life of
the award.
Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI): As part of NSF’s 10 big ideas it has implemented
the Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure program (MSRI). This NSF-wide program was to enable
the development and upgrade of research infrastructure that will support clearly identified needs
within the science and engineering communities. MSRI is open to Federally Funded Research
and Design Centers including NSF/AST observatories. MSRI was offered for the first time in
FY19 with two programs. MSRI-1 was to support design ($600K to $20M) and implementation
($6M to $20M) proposals. 246 preliminary proposals were received with full proposals (from
those invited to apply) due in May 2019. Preliminary proposals for MSRI-2 (infrastructure only)
were due March 11th 2019, with nearly 100 letters of intent submitted. The sum total of funding
requested from the MSRI-1 and 2 programs exceeded $4 billion, indicating a significant unmet
need in the NSF community.
Finding: The AAAC is pleased to see the development of the Mid-Scale Research
Infrastructure program (MSRI). The very large number of proposals that were submitted
in response to the initial call demonstrates the significant need within the science and
engineering community for renewed infrastructure to support ongoing and future
science programs.
Recommendation: NSF/AST should ensure that the astronomical community is aware of

the MSRI opportunities and in particular the range of infrastructure projects that can be
supported by this program.
30
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI): DESI is a DOE HEP-led project with
contributions from NSF/AST, universities, private foundations and international agencies that is
currently under construction, and will start operations in FY20. In 2014, P5 encouraged DOE-
HEP to support DESI as part of its broad-based dark energy program. DOE is providing a new,
next-generation spectrograph and related instrumentation and computing systems. DOE/HEP
and NSF/AST signed an MOU (June 2015) for jointly supporting operations of the Mayall 4m
telescope in FY 2016 through FY 2018 for preparatory work and start of the installation of the
spectrograph on the Mayall telescope. DESI achieved CD-3 by DOE in June 2016. Installation
started in 2018 onto the Mayall 4-m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona,
operated by AURA/NOAO on behalf of the NSF. The top end of the telescope started to be
converted in February 2018 and the first spectrograph was installed on the rack at the Mayall
Telescope at the beginning of 2019. Of the ten spectrographs that are part of DESI, three have
been shipped to the observatory and a further two are undergoing tests. The agreement for the
operations phase, in which DOE/HEP is going to fully support the operations of the Mayall
telescope and computing systems during the data-taking phase, is still in development. A
review of Project status was conducted in November 2018. The primary imaging survey for
DESI, DECaLS (DECam Legacy Survey), covering 2/3 of the DESI survey footprint, the MzLS
northern imaging survey (using the Mayall 4m in the z-band), and the BASS imaging survey (
using the University of Arizona’s Bok 2.3m telescope) have all completed observations.
Processing of these data is ongoing and the upcoming data release, DR8, will be the first data
release that combines data from all 3 surveys across the sky.
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST): DKIST is a 4m aperture, off-axis, telescope under
construction at the Haleakalā Observatory in Maui (Hawaii). The off-axis design allows
observations of the off-limb solar corona and measurements of the coronal magnetic field.
DKIST started the Integration, Testing and Commissioning (IT&C) phase in 2018. This last
phase of the construction is expected to end in June 2020. The primary mirror and the
secondary mirror of the telescope have already been integrated. As part of the IT&C phase, the
first images of the Sun are planned for late summer 2019.
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO): Advanced LIGO, the ground-

based gravitational wave experiment, started 02 science operations on September 12, 2015. On
September 14, 2015, LIGO achieved the first direct detection of gravitational waves, from a
merging binary pair of black holes of 29 and 36 solar masses. On August 17, 2017, LIGO
observed the gravitational wave signature of two merging neutron stars. These observations
initiated the new window of multi-messenger astrophysics, and in the case of the first binary
neutron star merger the only missing signature was in the neutrino-sector. Advanced LIGO
completed the O2 run in August 2017. Upgrades for the third observing run, O3, were
completed in September 2018, and after commissioning and engineering runs O3 began in
April, 2019. The first public alert from O3 (a binary black-hole merger at a distance of ~1473
Mpc) was announced on April the 8th. Advanced LIGO and VIRGO will be run in unison for O3.
31
Data from O2 together with open source tools software for analyzing these data were released
by the LIGO consortium. LIGO was awarded a $35M grant to upgrade the system as part of
Advance LIGO Plus.
Dark Energy Survey (DES): DES is an international project jointly funded by DOE, NSF,
universities, and international agencies to conduct a large imaging survey to probe dark energy
and the origin of cosmic acceleration. It was recommended as a DOE priority in the 2007 P5
report. The 520 megapixel Dark Energy Camera (DECam) was funded by the U.S. Department
of Energy Office of Science and is mounted on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at CTIO, which is
operated by NOAO (NSF). In January 2019, DES completed its data collection after 758 nights
of observations (commencing in August 2013). In total, DES collected ~50 terabytes of imaging
data covering 5,000 square degrees. DES has released cosmological measurements and
constraints from the year-1 data and the first cosmological constraints from a subset of the first
three years of type Ia supernovae observations. In January 2018, DES made publicly available
the first 3 years of survey data as part of its DR1 data release.
Finding: The AAAC Commends the DES team, DOE, and NSF for successfully
completing DES operations and for transferring DECam to become a community
instrument

Dark Matter: Understanding and identifying the nature of dark matter is a priority of both P5
and NWNH reports and both laboratory and astrophysics experiments/investigations will be
needed. NWNH identified understanding the nature of dark matter as a science frontier
question for advancing knowledge, underscoring the need for both direct detection and indirect
detection. P5 stressed the complementary approach combining direct detection of dark matter,
indirect detection, and accelerator searches. Three G2 direct detection dark matter experiments
were selected for development in June 2014 by DOE/HEP and NSF/PHY. Two experiments,
Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search at Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Lab (SuperCDMS-
SNOLAB) and LUX-Zeplin (LZ) search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), and
the Axion Dark Matter eXperiment Generation 2 (ADMX-G2) is sensitive to axions. FY19 marks
the completion of funding for the LZ and SuperCDMS construction projects. DOE HEP and
NSF/PHY are supporting operations of SuperCDMS-SNOLAB and DOE HEP will support LZ
operations. ADMX-G2 started operations in its first frequency range in January 2017 and
reached a key sensitivity threshold in August 2017 and is currently in its 3rd successful phase of
data taking.
While the search for WIMPs continues, the community has begun to explore alternative dark
matter candidates. The community has led this effort and the funding agencies are responding
to the scientific push into these new areas of research.
Finding: Alternatives to the standard (WIMP) dark matter scenario can be explored in a
wide variety of ways, and the community is devoting time and resources to develop new
32
search techniques. DOE-HEP set up a Basic Research Needs group to assess the
landscape. There are potential synergies with exciting developments in the area of
quantum sensors.
Recommendation: DOE-HEP should continue to pursue searches for alternatives to the

standard dark matter candidates.
Cosmic Microwave Background: All three agencies are now fully supporting CMB Science.
While waiting for the outcome of the next Decadal Survey to help guide the construction of the
expected large surveys in the 2020’s, the community has come together to construct and
operate exciting Stage-3 surveys, such as the South Pole Telescope, Atacama Cosmology
Telescope, and BICEP/Keck among others. These experiments contain information that
correlates with that obtained from galaxy surveys, so cross-correlations between these two very
different sets of experiments has emerged as an exciting field and yet another reason to
continue this research. The community has also come together in support of CMB-S4, a
proposed ground-based experiment that is the sole project recommended by the 2014 P5
Committee that is not yet under construction. The science case for all of these projects is well
developed.
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA): The world was captivated on April
10, 2019 when the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) announced that it had produced the first
image of a black hole. As the most sensitive and largest element of the EHT, ALMA was
instrumental in making this observation possible. With ALMA, the EHT achieved one of the
highest resolutions ever in astronomy, 20 microarcseconds. A microarcsecond is about the size
of the period at the end of this sentence if you were observing it from the Moon.
The extraordinary science from ALMA emerged from decades of planning. ALMA was a priority
of the 1990 decadal survey that was reaffirmed in the 2000 decadal survey, Astronomy and
Astrophysics in the New Millennium. It was undertaken as a joint project between the NSF,
ESO, and NAOJ. The facility was inaugurated in March 2013. NWNH-AMA noted the
completion during this decade of some of the projects of the previous decadal survey, including
ALMA, which is enabling transformational science in the submillimeter.
Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA): With traceable roots back to at least the report
Ground-Based Astronomy: A Ten-Year Program4 (A. E. Whitford, 1964) and recommended by
the following decadal survey report, the 1972 Astronomy and Astrophysics in the 1970s,5 the
VLA has enabled transformational science as a premiere radio telescope at centimeter
wavelengths. Its combination of sensitivity and high angular resolution allow it to match the
imaging capability of ground-based OIR telescopes. An upgrade of the VLA was recommended
4
https://www.nap.edu/read/13212/chapter/1
5
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13231/astronomy-and-astrophysics-for-the-1970s-volume-1-report-of
33
by the 2001 decadal survey report Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium,6
allowing as much as two orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over the previous array.
The enhanced array has been renamed the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), in honor of
the pioneering radio astronomer. The VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) a sky survey covering 2-4 Ghz
at 2.5 arcsec resolution has started the second half of the first epoch survey. These
observations, expected to be finished in July 2019 will complete coverage of the sky above
declination -40 deg.
4.1.3 Other Initiatives or Recommendations In Progress

NWNH made a series of additional recommendations regarding the health and future of the
astronomy and astrophysics community and research that are in the process of being
implemented or acted upon by the agencies, but did not fit naturally in the space-based (4.1.1)
or ground-based (4.1.2) sections above. We assess progress and make necessary
recommendations for these in this section. The programs and initiatives discussed in this
section are roughly ordered, although not rigidly, in reverse anticipated order of completion.
The logic behind the reverse ordering is that we begin with programs that are most at risk in a
climate of budget uncertainty (or reduction). Ongoing programs or missions that were highlights
of past decadal surveys are included when the AAAC believed they are either still scientifically
relevant to the developing new initiatives (that is they provide context) or impact the availability
of funding for new initiatives. The projects, facilities, or programs discussed in this section are all
in progress or active. Those that are recommended, but upon which work has not begun, are
discussed in section 4.2.
Balanced NSF/AST Portfolio Investment: Multiple reports including those from this committee
emphasize that NSF/AST should maintain a balanced investment across its portfolio of grants
and facilities. NSF/AST has shown it understands these recommendations and has worked to
take actions consistent with this guidance. When additional guidance has been needed to make
specific challenging choices, NSF/AST has sought the detailed assessments it required. An
example of such guidance is the commissioning of the PRC, its review of the portfolio, and its
report in 2012. The formation of the PRC was recommended by NWNH. Since then NSF/AST
has been working to act upon the recommendations of the PRC, but it is still dealing with a
challenging balancing effort.
In 2016, the mid-decadal review conducted by the National Academies revisited the progress of
the NSF toward achieving balance in its portfolio while dealing with the challenge of growing
operations costs of facilities. As noted in NWNH-AMA, “The committee strongly supports the
goal of a balanced program that includes facilities, mid-scale initiatives, and small-scale
initiatives. Maintaining this balance is a challenge at the current level of funding.” This is
6
https://www.nap.edu/catalog/9839/astronomy-and-astrophysics-in-the-new-millennium
34
particularly the case when LSST and DKIST operations begin. As a result, carrying out the
recommendations of the 2012 Portfolio Review Committee (PRC) report for facility divestment
continues to be a priority. Otherwise the recommended balance in supporting individual
investigator grants, mid-scale initiatives, and facility operations will not be achievable.
NWNH-AMA notes the increasing impact of the operations costs of large facilities on the ability
to fund individual investigators. “The remarkable scientific progress of the first half of the decade
was made possible by capital investment in the previous decades. Without funding for a
balanced program that realizes the benefits of this decade’s capital investment, the visionary
scientific program put forward by NWNH will not be realized.” The AAAC continues to agree with
this motivation and concern.
However, it is recognized by the Portfolio Review Committee, NSF/AST, and the AAAC that
complete removal of funding from a facility/telescope might remove productive and sometimes
unique assets from being available for astronomical research. For this reason, the preferred
divestment alternative being pursued by the NSF has involved forming partnerships that enable
valuable observing capabilities (the combination of telescope and instrumentation) to be used
for astronomical research. This approach should reduce costs to NSF/AST without
as severe an impact (on research) as closure.
The NSF has undertaken engineering and baseline environmental surveys for a number of
facilities in order to assess the feasibility of the following options: (1) new partnership
agreements, (2) conversion to a new mission with scope reduction, (3) mothballing of facilities,
(4) decommissioning. Below is an updated list of the affected facilities and their status.
● KPNO 2.1m: A Caltech-led consortium, Robo-AO, were awarded the opportunity to operate
this telescope for FY 2016-2020. Recently they were approved for a two year extension of
operations.
● Mayall 4m: The DESI survey will use this telescope along with newly supplied multi-fiber
Spectrographs under an MOU between NSF and DOE.
● WIYN 3.5m: An 2015 MOA between NASA and NSF created a partnership for the NASA-NSF
Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-EXPLORE) program in which the NOAO time using the
telescope is devoted to community exoplanet research. NASA is procuring for WIYN from
Pennsylvania State University an extreme precision Doppler spectrograph, NEID (NN-explore
Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler spectroscopy).
● Green Bank Observatory: The Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is currently
pending NSB approval. Separation from NRAO occurred in 2017. An MOA is in work for a new
partner, but more partners are desired.
35
● Long Baseline Observatory / Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA): There was a separation
from NRAO, but not AUI, in October 2016. An MOA is in place with the US Navy to
share 50% of the operating cost of VLBA.
● McMath-Pierce Telescope: A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been
awarded to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) for the
development of a new “Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach” at NSF’s Kitt
Peak National Observatory.
● GONG/SOLIS: SOLIS has moved to Big Bear. NOAA/SWPC covers GONG operations cost.
● Sacramento Peak Telescope: The Sac Peak EIS has finalized and recommends partial
operations of the facility with NSO operating site facilities and the NMSU-led consortium in
charge of the scientific planning of the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) and the Visitor's Center.
● Arecibo: Management has changed in 2018 to a consortium led by the University of Central
Florida with its partners, Universidad Metropolitana in San Juan and Yang Enterprises, Inc. in
Oviedo. Funding is being deployed to provide repairs following the 2017 hurricane Maria event.
● SOAR: The status and future of NSF support for SOAR will be reviewed after 2020.
Finding: NSF/AST has successfully demonstrated that it is often possible to secure

partners who are capable of extending the productive scientific lifetime of NSF-
developed facilities to produce excellent science while reducing or eliminating the cost
to NSF of operating these facilities.
Recommendation: The AAAC recommendations that the NSF facility divestment process
be completed and that the agencies work to ensure that individual investigators are
funded, in order to capitalize on and leverage the full capabilities of the new facilities and
large projects that represent such important and substantial investments by the
agencies.
4.2 Major Initiatives or Priorities Not Yet Started
Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope (GSMT): The third highest priority of NWNH for federal
investment in initiatives on the ground was for GSMT, the generic description of a large and
near-infrared telescope providing the next-generation spectroscopic infrared and optical facility
36
in the 20-30 meter class. Two consortia involving US universities or institutions are undertaking
projects that could match what was recommended by NWNH. These projects are the Giant
Magellan Telescope (GMT), to be sited in Chile, and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), to be
sited in Hawaii. At the January 2019 meeting of the AAS, a presentation was made advocating
for a US-ELT program. This program, supported by key science programs developed by
members of the community in late 2018, proposes to obtain 25% or more of the time on both the
GMT and TMT to provide the community access to these facilities and cover both hemispheres
of sky. While an exact cost for the program was not given, it is anticipated to be of a similar
scale of investment to other facilities like ALMA and LIGO (~$1billion or greater). It is likely that
the upcoming Decadal Survey will have to re-assess the GSMT recommendation in the light of
the US-ELT proposal.
Atmospheric Čerenkov Telescope Array (ACTA): Quoting from the AAAC 2016 report,
“ACTA is a NWNH-recommended international instrument for high-energy gamma-ray
astrophysics, aimed at answering questions about high-energy astrophysics and the
fundamental nature of dark matter. The international Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA)
consortium is currently moving toward construction. The P5 strategic plan recommended to
DOE HEP and NSF/PHY to “invest in CTA as part of the small projects portfolio if the critical
NSF Astronomy funding can be obtained.” CTA was the fourth ground-based priority in NWNH.
Because of its funding constraints, NSF/AST informed the US CTA team that they would need
to compete successfully in the MSIP program to receive AST funding. There has been little
progress in realizing the NWNH recommendation of ACTA given the levels of available funding,
higher ranked priorities, and the need to keep a balance of investment by the agencies.”
Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT): Quoting from the AAAC 2016 report, “the only
recommendation of NWNH in the medium-sized ground-based project category was CCAT
(formerly the Cornell-Caltech Atacama Telescope) , a 25-m telescope with large-format
cameras to enable surveys of the sky at submillimeter wavelengths and be a “finder-scope” for
ALMA. NWNH suggested federal funding of about one-third of the costs, to be shared with
university and international partners. The PRC reiterated its support for partial federal
investment in CCAT, but since the remaining funding has not been identified, the NSF will
consider future contributions to CCAT as part of a successful competition within the existing
MSIP line.”
Finding: The scientific justifications of GSMT, ACTA, and CCAT continue to be strong
and these projects are worthy of eventual support and participation by the federal
government if funding opportunities become available to enable supporting one or more
of these projects as part of a balanced program of investment by the agencies.
37
Recommendations from the US Ground-based OIR Astronomy System Report Not Yet
Implemented: As stated in previous reports, the OIR System Report included seven prioritized
recommendations, most of which have not yet been implemented, but are beginning to be
discussed in the community, with NSF/AST, AURA, Gemini, LSST, and NOAO. Details
regarding the to be acted upon recommendations can be found in the report and are the
following: OISR(1) Creation of a telescope observing time/data exchange for OIR System
observing capabilities; OISR(2) charge NOAO to set up an ongoing community planning
process for recommending in detail the OIR system observing capabilities that need to be
sustained or developed to enable decadal survey science priorities; OISR(3) NSF should
support the development of a wide-field highly multiplexed spectroscopic capability on a
medium or large aperture telescope in the southern hemisphere to enable a wide variety of
science, including spectroscopic follow-up in support of the LSST science cases; OISR(4) a
series of four specific recommendations for supporting and expanding upon LSST science
cases; OISR(5), that the NSF should plan for an investment in one or both of the GSMTs;
OISR(6) the NSF should continue to invest in the development of critical instrument
technologies, including detectors, adaptive/active optics, and precision radial velocity
measurements; OISR(7) NSF should support a coordinated suite of schools, workshops and
training networks, run by experts, to train the future generation of astronomers and maintain
instrumentation, software and data analysis expertise.
The new National Center for Optical Infrared Astronomy (NCOA) represents a merger of
Gemini, NOAO, and LSST into a single matrixed organization. The principal components of
NCOA comprise a Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), the Mid-Scale Observatories
(the NOAO 4m telescopes), Gemini, and LSST. A proposal for the operation of NCOA has been
submitted to the NSF by AURA and the position of NCOA director has been advertised. It is
expected that NCOA will begin as an organization in October 2019 pending approval by the
NSF. NCOA will be responsible for the implementation of the OIR System Report
recommendations
Recommendation: Efforts by AURA, and NCOA to implement the recommendations of

the OIR System Report should be supported by NSF as long as they can be
accommodated while maintaining a balanced investment across the portfolio of
NSF/AST.
4.3 Summary and Recommendations

The aspirations of our community inevitably exceed the budgetary constraints of NSF, DOE,
and NASA. We reemphasize that to sustain US leadership in the sciences requires a balanced
investment (range of program scales and investment in individual investigator awards) by the
agencies. This will enable us to achieve our vision for the advancement of science while
sustaining a robust community of researchers.
38
Finding: The agencies have efficiently and effectively executed the priorities of the
decadal survey, given the budgetary constraints under which they are currently
operating. In general their prioritization of support for projects and missions closely
matches the intent of NWNH. The proposed cessation of WFIRST (top-ranked space-
based priority from NWNH) in FY 2020 would be a striking exception to the way that the
federal government previously followed the priorities recommended by the community
through the decadal survey process.
5. GBS report
The NSF operates or shares multiple medium-large (4-8m) optical telescope facilities that
currently form the backbone of the US optical/near-infrared system. In 2015, the NRC issued a
report that recommended that these facilities be optimized to maximize the scientific return in
the era of the new and imminent facilities such as LSST and ALMA.
Although long term priorities for federally funded facilities necessarily will depend on the
outcome of the 2020 decadal survey, the evolution of scientific landscape in the past few year
(for example the emergence of multi-messenger astronomy, developments in adaptive optics,
the development of DOE-supported dark energy experiments, and the increasing importance of
time domain astronomy) have changed the priorities of the facilities. Furthermore, NSF will be
required to make programmatic decisions in advance of the decadal survey report (expressions
of interest in the Gemini telescope were needed by November 2018, and both the Gemini and
SOAR partnership agreements will need to be renegotiated before the 2020 Decadal results are
known.
As a result, in August, 2018, the AAAC in coordination with NSF/AST and DOE/HEP appointed
a subcommittee to investigate the role of the Gemini, Blanco, and Soar (GBS) telescopes in the
first part of the next decade. The committee, chaired by Klaus Honscheid (Ohio State), was
charged with: 1) assessing to which degree each of the telescopes provides critical
complementary data for LSST, MMA, time domain and dark energy science; 2) describing and
evaluating highest impact science in other areas given the planned suite of instruments of these
facilities; 3) assessing whether the current US share in Gemini and SOAR is adequate; 4)
evaluating modes of multi-facility use to maximize the scientific output of the GBS as a system;
and 5) highlighting missing instrumental and adaptive optics capabilities needed for the highest
priority programs.
The committee consisted of 9 researchers spanning most of the areas of astronomical research.
The committee reviewed the successful proposals to the telescopes, publications resulting from
the telescopes,and had access to programmatic studies from the facilities. In addition to weekly
teleconferences, the committee met face-to-face in October, 2018 in Tucson. At that meeting,
39
the committee received presentations from the directors of the GBS facilities and consulted with
experts in some areas where the committee expertise was thinnest.
The committee presented a preliminary set of findings to the AAAC and NSF in November, 2018
(to help inform the Gemini expression of interest), and a preliminary version of the report was
given to AAAC in January, 2019. The final report was accepted by AAAC on March 8, 2019.
The report of the GBS subcommittee is attached as an appendix. Here we summarize the
conclusions of the report.
Overall, the GBS subcommittee found that the scientific potential of all three (G,B, and S) was
strong, and that the existing and planned instrumentation will support transient science
(especially Gemini-South with the new SCORPIO instrument). At the same time, better
integration of the telescopes to optimize for follow-up observations is called for. More generally,
the subcommittee recommends that the NSF coordinate the development of open-source tools
(such as event brokers, and TOMS) to allow for efficient transitions from alerts from LSST to
observations by GBS facilities. On the GBS ends, enabling queue mode capabilities on Blanco
and SOAR will increase their capability for time domain and multi-messenger observations.
On the instrumentation front, the GBS committee recommends that support continue for the
instrumentation in development (such as SCORPIO) and planned instrumentation (such as the
Gemini-North AO upgrades). However, the committee also recommended attention be paid to
development of instrumentation to cover capabilities missing (such as a fast low-dispersion
spectrograph for SOAR, or instrumentation for the Blanco for the mid-2020s. Finally, the
committee also recognized the lack of an adequate multiplexed wide-field spectrograph to
match to LSST.
Finding: the AAAC finds that the GBS subcommittee report addresses the charge
questions and provides an evaluation of the important role of the GBS telescopes in the
US system in the first part of the next decade.
Recommendation: the NSF should work towards implementing the recommendations of

the GBS subcommittee, particularly those that affect the impact of the GBS system over
the next ~5 years, before the Decadal Survey recommendations take precedence.
6. Preparation for 2020 Decadal Survey
6.1 General preparation informed by past experience

Planning is well underway for the 2020 Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics (DSAA).
The Co-Chairs of the Survey, Drs. Fiona Harrison and Robert Kennicutt have been chosen, and
40
the Steering Committee selection process is underway. The value of this community-based
effort is widely recognized by all funding agencies. The extensive process associated with such
an undertaking has been streamlined and it is becoming increasingly more transparent. At this
point it is also essential to evaluate the interplay between the recommendations made in past
DSAAs and their subsequent implementations by the funding agencies. This assessment is
particularly relevant during times of shrinking or flat budgets, when the need to maintain
balanced programs potentially conflicts with an understandable desire by the community to
address the big science questions with large-scale projects. In this regard we draw from the
2016 Midterm Assessment of the 2010 NWNH Survey (NWNH-AMA), with a few
recommendations that are remain now, for the 2020 Decadal Survey, and beyond:
● NWNH-AMA recommends that independent cost estimates for projects be retained

● NWNH-AMA recommends that more extensive funding partnerships outside the
agencies be developed. The recent NASA/ESA/JAXA collaborations on Athena, Euclid,
LISA, and XRISM (formerly XARM) are examples of a positive response to this
recommendations.
● NWHM-AMA identified a misalignment between the survey outcomes generated by the
Science Frontier Panels and the Project Prioritization panels. Such an alignment is
critical for the task of matching capabilities (existing and to-be-developed) with the goal
of addressing frontier topics. A reduced budget will make it more important than ever to
align science questions and their associated ground- and space-based facilities within a
balanced portfolio. Prioritization becomes more challenging, and the next Decadal
Survey should address these issues through a closer interaction of frontier-oriented
committee members and those who convert top science questions to top mission
priorities.
● NWNH-AMA recommended collecting and disseminating relevant information through
white papers contributed by the community. This practice is now well established and we
recommend its continuation. Strategies that support this practice include dedicated
Town Hall sessions at all major community meetings (AAS, APS).
Finding: strategies recommended in NWNH-AMA such as independent cost estimates for

projects, international funding partnerships to extend scientific reach, and community
outreach about the decadal survey are valuable.
Finding: The agencies have responded appropriately to the NWNH-AMA

recommendations regarding independent cost assessment.
Finding: Recent collaborations between NASA and international partners on Athena,

Euclid, XRISM, and LISA further the recommendations of NWNH and NWNH-AMA.
Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that the next Decadal Survey process
41
incorporate strategies that were recommended in NWNH-AMA to achieve project cost
control, extension of scientific reach through partnerships, and community buy-in to the
process.
Recommendation: The AAAC recommends that the next Decadal Survey continue to
obtain input from the community through white papers and direct engagement. The
AAAC further recommend that the Decadal Survey make every attempt to engage all
members of the astronomical community (including industrial partners, international
partners, and philanthropic organizations) and pay particular attention to obtaining input
and panel membership from as diverse a spectrum of the community as possible.
6.2 Upcoming Mission Concept Development
Future NASA Mission Concepts: In 2015, NASA commissioned the Enduring Quests and
Daring Visions study7. This planning exercise for long-term development of NASA Astrophysics
identified notional surveyor mission concepts in the context of three fundamental questions: Are
we alone? How did we get here? How does the Universe work? In response to the goals
identified in that report, NASA developed four major Science and Technology Definition Teams.
Mission concepts that flowed from those efforts include: an infrared telescope (Origins Space
Telescope); two UV/Optical/Near Infrared telescopes (HabEx and LUVOIR); and an X-ray
telescope (Lynx). The results of these extensive studies will flow into the next Decadal Survey,
as will those studies aimed at Probe Class missions addressing the many exciting questions
including those of modern time domain astronomy (the physics of transients) and the recently
opened window of Multi-Messenger Astrophysics (light, gravitational waves and neutrinos). In
addition, the latter field received a tremendous boost from the discovery of several black hole
binary mergers and the first neutron star binary merger (GW170817/GRB170817A) which
engaged LIGO/Virgo as well as space-based observatories (Fermi/GBM, Swift, INTEGRAL) and
a global network of ground-based observatories operating across the electromagnetic spectrum.
The 2020 Decadal Survey will likely recognize the breakthroughs in time domain astrophysics,
multi-messenger astrophysics, and the expanding field of exoplanet research and should inform
the agencies on how to optimize their portfolios to incorporate these new frontier areas of
research.
Future Ground Based Concepts:

In 2016, the NSF introduced a set of Big Ideas8, aimed at long-term development of visionary
7
http://go.nasa.gov/1gGVkZY
8
https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/
42
frontier directions in science and engineering. Of highest relevance to astrophysics in this
context is the “Windows on the Universe” segment, within which the era of multi-messenger
astrophysics is emphasized. New syntheses of observational approaches are needed to provide
deeper insights into the nature and behavior of matter and energy and help to answer some of
the most profound questions. Since its beginnings, astronomers have made observations in the
optical regime of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since WWII our grasp has steadily expanded to
include observational capabilities ranging from radio waves to X-ray and gamma rays, up to
amazingly high energies accessible with air shower experiments on the ground. Today we
speak of multi-wavelength astronomy. Many great discoveries have been made as a result of
rapid technology developments across the spectrum, Presently we are able to observe the
world around us in fundamentally new ways, as we expanded into the realm of neutrinos and
gravitational waves. While not limited to these new frontiers, the utilization of the full portfolio of
instruments and observatories will advance our knowledge to unprecedented levels.
In addition to the US-ELT program mentioned previously in this report, three other large ground
based concepts were presented to the AAAC in the February 2019 meeting. The Next
Generation VLA (ngVLA) proposes a suite of arrays (a Main array of 214 antennas, a Short
Baseline array of 19 antennas, and a Long Baseline array of 30 antennas) to significantly
improve over the current VLA facility and address an extremely wide range of science goals,
including multi-messenger astronomy. ngVLA is anticipated to require a U.S. contribution of
$1.75 billion for construction and $80 million/yr in operations (2018 dollars). The Ice-Cube-
Generation 2 is a proposal to significantly expand the Ice Cube neutrino detection experiment,
increasing the sensitivity over the Ice Cube 7-year value by a factor of 10. The new array would
be comprised of 120 strings of sensors, with a volume 10 times that of the original Ice Cube
experiment. The notional fiscal scope for the array is on the order of $300 million. Finally, the
Cosmic Microwave Background Stage 4 (CMB-S4) project was presented. A detailed
description of CMB-S4 resulted from a subcommittee report delivered to the AAAC in 2017.
The notional construction costs are $412 million, and operations and science costs are $32
million per year.
6.3 Impact of the Decadal Survey Process
Innumerable examples of US frontier scientific leadership in astronomy and astrophysics

demonstrate that the process of evaluating the state of the profession and developing long term
vision with associated concrete plans for science and technology development on a 10-year
cycle is an excellent method to inform the funding agencies, and to guide their collaborative
enterprises. The physics and astronomy communities greatly value the Decadal Survey process
and appreciate opportunities to contribute to it (via service on committees and offering input
through white papers, or participating in extensive mission studies). The many discoveries made
in this era of scientific exploration are in large part the result of a process that engages the
43
community to dream while simultaneously creating financially realistic recommendations. We
applaud the agencies and the community for their commitment to these principles.
Finding: We find that the Decadal Survey process is important for ensuring that the US
remains a global leader in scientific exploration and technology development.
7. Budget Summary and Impact

FY 2018 & 2019 Budget Status:
Both the FY 2018 and FY 2019 budget cycles were significantly delayed. These delays,
particularly the protracted period of partial government shutdown, caused both tangible and
intangible negative effects across the agencies. Although evidence is currently only anecdotal,
there is concern that the recent shutdown has led to an increase in personnel departures from
the agencies. Furthermore, delays in appropriations lead to delays in implementation of NWNH
recommendations, agency science priorities, and day-to-day operations of facilities and grants
management. For NSF, a major challenge from the shutdown was maintaining funding flow to
facilities awardees, especially those with Chilean labor contracts. All together, delays and
shutdowns created risks to the management of programs, missions, facilities, and grant
awarding.
Nevertheless, once completed, the FY 2018 and FY 2019 budgets represented a net positive for
funding of astronomy and astrophysics at the agencies. Of note, Congress opted not to cancel
WFIRST as requested by the Administration for FY 2019. Also of note, NSF AST was able to
fund the MSIP program at levels commensurate with those envisioned by NWNH along with
funding other programs and forward-funding some operations of DKIST and LSST operations
with the increases in FY2018 funds. The impact of FY2019 increases on AST are yet to be
assessed by the committee.
Finding: The funding levels appropriated by Congress in the FY 2018 and FY 2019
budgets generally positively impacted all three agencies’ ability to meet the
recommendations of NWNH
Finding: Delays in passing the appropriations for the agencies for FY 2019 create
challenges and added risks for the efficient management of programs, missions,
facilities, and the award of research grants.
Finding: Protracted periods of government shutdown have significant negative impact

on the short-term ability for the agencies to manage programs and portfolios.
Additionally, they create additional risk for personnel loss at the agencies, creating
further strain on the agencies’ ability to perform their missions.
44
FY 2020 Budget Concerns:
Although the Administration’s FY 2020 budget request has only just been released and
reviewed by the committee, even a cursory examination causes significant concern. The
budget for NASA would again call for the cancelation of the WFIRST mission, the highest space
mission priority of NWNH. A WFIRST cancellation would be a substantial departure from the
vision of NWNH and would likely jeopardize future missions of similar or larger scale that might
be recommended in the 2020 Decadal Survey.
Recommendation: The AAAC urges Congress to increase the proposed FY 2020

appropriation for NASA above the Administration’s request to continue to provide a
balanced program within astrophysics in line with the recommendations of NWNH.
The Administration’s FY 2020 budget request contains significant cuts to both facility and
research budgets at NSF, both on the order of 30% relative to the FY 2018 enacted values.
These cuts not only jeopardize the NSF’s current ability to balance the need for world-class
facilities and the community of researchers that use them, but also significantly threatens this
balance in future years as facilities like LSST come on line. NSF will not be able to meet the
priorities outlined in NWNH if the FY 2020 budget request is enacted.

appropriation for NSF above the Administration’s request to enable the Agency to
properly balance research and infrastructure funding needs to meet the
recommendations of NWNH.
The FY 2020 budget request also proposes significant cuts to the DOE High Energy Physics
Program relative to the enacted FY 2019 amounts. The request is below the lower boundary
identified by the P5 report in its budget scenarios, and will create challenges for the ability of the
DOE to fund extramural grants and maintain future progress.

appropriation for DOE High Energy Physics above the Administration’s request to
provide adequate funding for operations of and research and analysis of data from the
numerous world-class facilities currently nearing completion.
AAAC report timing: Finally, the AAAC notes that this year, as has been the case in the recent
past, the committee is requested to meet, formulate its recommendations, and submit a report
by the statutory date of March 15. Given the rapidly shifting and uncertain budget scenarios, it
is often the case that the report of the AAAC is not fully informed by important budget
developments. The AAAC wishes to fully fulfill its charter and provide timely and meaningful
recommendations. In order to do so, a change to the statutory due date would be extremely
helpful. Generally, a due date of, for example, 45-60 days following the submission of the
45
President’s budget, would provide sufficient time for the AAAC to fully interact with the funding
agencies and formulate its recommendations.
Finding: The statutory deadline, March 15th, for the submission of the AAAC annual
report does not allow sufficient time for the committee to react to budget developments
that typically occur in the first two months of each calendar year.
Recommendation: the AAAC recommends that the annual report deadline be changed
from a fixed date to a deadline 45-60 days following the submission of the President’s
budget, so as to enable sufficient opportunity for the committee to interact with the
funding agencies, understand the impact of the President’s budget, and formulate
recommendations. The AAAC would endeavor to still meet the current deadline of March
15th when possible.
Appendix A: Explanation of Abbreviations

AAAC Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee
AAG Astronomy and Astrophysics Grant
AAS American Astronomical Society
ACTA (or CTA) Atmospheric Čerenkov Telescope Array
ALMA Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
ATI Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation
AUI Associated Universities, Inc.
AURA Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
ADMX Axion Dark Matter eXperiment
CAA Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics
CD Critical Design review
CDT Concept Definition Task Force
CMB Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
CTA (or ACTA) Atmospheric Čerenkov Telescope Array
DECam Dark Energy Camera
DES Dark Energy Survey
DESI Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
DKIST Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope
DOE Department of Energy
DOE/CF Department of Energy High Energy Physics Cosmic Frontier
EIS Environmental Impact Statement
EMS Electro Magnetic Spectrum
ESA European Space Agency
ESO European Southern Observatory
FACA Federal Advisory Committee Act
46
FDR Final Design Review
FY Fiscal Year
GEO/AGS Geosciences Directorate/Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
GONG Global Oscillation Network Group
GSMT Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope
HCT Himalayan Chandra Telescope
HEP High Energy Physics
HEPAP High Energy Physics Advisory Panel
HST Hubble Space Telescope
IXO International X-ray Observatory
JAXA Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JWST James Webb Space Telescope
KPNO Kitt Peak National Observatory
LIGO Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
LISA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
LSST Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
LZ LUX-Zeplin
MOA Memorandum of Agreement
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MPS Mathematical & Physical Sciences (NSF Directorate for …)
MREFC Major Research Equipment and Facilities
MRI Major Research Instrumentation
MSIP Mid-Scale Innovation Program
NAOJ National Astronomy Observatory of Japan
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA/APD National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astrophysics Division
NEID NN-explore Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler spectroscopy
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAO National Optical Astronomy Observatory
NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory
NSB National Science Board
NRC National Research Council
NSF National Science Foundation
NSF/AST National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences
NSF/OPP National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs
NSF/PHY National Science Foundation Division of Physics
NuSTAR Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
NWNH The 2010 NRC decadal survey report “New Worlds, New Horizons in
Astronomy and Astrophysics”
NWNH-AMA The 2016 NRC mid term assessment report, “New Worlds, New Horizons
in Astronomy and Astrophysics, A Midterm Assessment”
OIR Optical InfRared
47
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy
P5 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel
PRC National Science Foundation Portfolio Review Committee
R&D Research and Development
SDSS Sloan Digital Sky Survey
SMD Science Mission Directorate, NASA
SOAR SOuthern Astrophysical Research Telescope
SOFIA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
SOLIS Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun
SPT South Pole Telescope
STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
Super CDMS Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
TAG Tri-Agency Group
TESS Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
TSIP Telescope System Instrumentation Program
UKIRT UK Infrared Telescope
URO University Radio Observatory
VERITAS Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
VLT Very Large Telescope
WFIRST Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope
WIMPS Weakly Interacting Massive ParticleS
XARM X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission
XRP Exoplanet Research Program
48

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April 28, 2019

Dr. France A. Córdova, Director

Mr. James Bridenstine, Administrator

Mr. Richard Perry, Secretary of Energy

The Honorable Eddie Bernice Johnson, Chairwoman

The Honorable Roger Wicker, Chairman

The Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman

Headquarters: 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela, HI 96743

Phone (808) 885-7887 l Fax (808) 885-4464

Sincerely yours, on behalf of the Committee,

Dr. John O’Meara

Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Members:

Dr. Rachel Bean, Cornell University

Dr. Andrew Connolly, University of Washington

Dr. Ian Dell’Antonio, Brown University

Dr. Scott Dodelson, Carnegie-Mellon University

Dr. Dieter Hartmann, Clemson University

Dr. Kelsey Johnson, University of Virginia

Dr. Mansi Kasliwal, California Institute of Technology

Dr. Brian Keating, University of California, San Diego

Dr. Eliza Kempton, University of Maryland

Dr. Shane Larson, Northwestern University

Dr. Petrus Martens, Georgia State University

Dr. John O’Meara, W.M. Keck Observatory

Dr. Constance Rockosi, University of California, Santa Cruz

Report of the Astronomy and Astrophysics

April 26, 2019

Image credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

Collected Findings and Recommendations 3

3. Overview of Interagency Coordination and Cooperation 16

3.1 Past and Current Coordination and Cooperation 16

3.2 Opportunities for Future Coordination and Collaboration 17

4. Implementation of Decadal Survey Recommendations 22

4.1 Priorities Addressed or Under Implementation 22

4.1.1 Space-based Projects 22

4.1.2 Ground-based Projects 29

4.1.3 Other Initiatives or Recommendations In Progress 34

4.2 Major Initiatives or Priorities Not Yet Started 36

4.3 Summary and Recommendations 38

5. GBS SubCommittee Report 39

6. Preparation for 2020 Decadal Survey 40

6.1 General preparation informed by past experience 40

6.2 Upcoming Mission Concept Development 42

6.3 Impact of the Decadal Survey Process 43

7. Budget Summary and Impact 44

Appendix A: Explanation of Acronyms 46

Collected Findings and Recommendations

7. Finding: The agencies have made multi-billion dollar investments in astronomical

19. Finding: The proposed termination of WFIRST, as presented in the President’s

20. Finding: A balanced investment by NASA in astrophysical research, including a mix

22. Recommendation: In order to maintain a balanced investment in astrophysical

27. Finding: JWST remains an essential component of the astrophysical science

28. Recommendation: NASA should continue to allocate resources to successfully

38. Recommendation: DOE-HEP should continue to pursue searches for alternatives to

42. Recommendation: Efforts by AURA, and NCOA to implement the recommendations of

46. Finding: strategies recommended in NWNH-AMA such as independent cost estimates

47. Finding: The agencies have responded appropriately to the NWNH-AMA

54. Finding: Protracted periods of government shutdown have significant negative

TESS launch and successful start of mission