N EWS F OCUS 65 64 63 Internecine battles have tarnished the reputation of planetary scientists in Washington, D.C. 62 Researchers hope they can win back respect with a consensus long-range plan 61 60 59 58 Planetary Science’s 57 56 55 54 Defining Moment

IRVINE,CALIFORNIA— But this expansion also comes in the NRC previously drew up long-term plans The stark message midst of bitter rivalries among subdisciplines, for astronomy and astrophysics, providing from the black box on friction between labs and their political back- clear priorities that those communities have the conference table ers, and rancor between Washington players turned into an effective lobbying tool. left many of the dozen like Isakowitz and bench scientists with their In the past, planetary scientists have or so scientists visibly own agendas. “We’re in a mess right now,” rather relished the rough-and-tumble spar- shaken. “It would be sighs Andrew Nagy, an NRC panel member ring over NASA’s budget. Just a few years SOLAR SYSTEM very easy for this Ad- and space physicist at the University of ago, advocates of a Mars lander fought with EXPLORATION ministration to walk Michigan, Ann Arbor. Things came to a head those who preferred a mission to a nearby The world’s planetary away from the plane- last fall during a successful campaign by re- asteroid. The infighting seems inevitable, be- science programs, cen- tary program,” said searchers to win congressional approval to cause one mission can never please every- tered in the U.S., Japan, the voice from Wash- revive a Pluto mission that NASA had one. “Solar system missions are the opposite and Europe, are setting ington, D.C. The shelved. The $30 million appropriation, of astronomy missions; they are narrowly ambitious goals—and speaker was Steve a mere down payment on what could be a tailored and specifically targeted,” notes Isakowitz, who over- Mark Sykes, an astronomer at the

facing a host of trials on March 12, 2012 University of Arizona in Tucson. The and tribulations, ranging sees space and science Hubble Space Telescope may study from skeptical politi- programs at the pow- erful White House Of- the birth of stars, black holes, and cians to bureaucratic fice of Management extrasolar planets all in the space of a reshufflings to techno- and Budget (OMB). week, but a mission to Mars offers lit- logical challenges. The stunned audience tle of interest to a researcher studying UNITED STATES members were part of gas giant planets. Even within the a National Research Mars community, a mission that fo- JAPAN Council (NRC) team cuses on geology would not attract EUROPE working on the first those who study atmospheric chem- www.sciencemag.org TECHNOLOGY long-term science istry or the magnetosphere. plan for solar system The stakes were raised in 2000, 53 exploration. “The planetary community is however, when NASA’s then-new 52 fractured, and we don’t have a clear vision,” space science chief Ed Weiler learned 51 chimed in fellow budgeteer Brant Sponberg about dramatic cost overruns on two 50 during the 15 November teleconference. “And missions—one to Pluto and one to 49 that makes you guys very, very vulnerable.” Europa—planned by the Jet Propul- Downloaded from 48 The crisis in NASA’s solar system effort is On ice? The status of a Europa orbiter that would sion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, 47 forcing a painful reckoning for researchers provide better closeups of the Jupiter moon is unclear. California. With the total cost jump- 46 who study planets, moons, asteroids, and ing from $654 million to $1.49 bil- 45 comets. “I shiver at the idea of this nation $500 million effort, angered NASA officials lion, Weiler was forced to choose between 44 abandoning exploration of the outer planets,” and their political paymasters, who don’t the two. “I had no clear priority, so I used 43 says Wesley Huntress, an NRC panel mem- think the nation can afford such a voyage. the best information I had,” he recalls, and 42 ber and geophysicist at the Carnegie Institu- Now both the Pluto mission and a separate halted work on the Pluto mission. There was 41 tion of Washington. Ironically, the trouble trip to study Jupiter’s moon Europa are on the also heavyweight support behind the Europa 40 comes at a time when the field is booming. chopping block. Unless planetary scientists mission: The Galileo spacecraft had found 39 Public support is strong, and flotillas of U.S., make some prudent choices, say OMB offi- evidence for an ocean beneath the icy skin 38 European, and Japanese spacecraft are cials, the future of U.S. exploration beyond of the Jovian moon, and the Clinton White 37 planned, on their way, or already gathering Mars is highly uncertain. House was intrigued by the possibility of 36 data in the far corners of the solar system. life there, fueled by 1996 claims—still con- 35 NASA’s $800 million planetary science bud- Pluto and Pasadena troversial—that a martian meteorite con- 34 get is slated to top $1.3 billion by 2005. Academic researchers, NASA officials, and tained evidence of fossils. 33 Meanwhile, many U.S. companies, private policy-makers alike are counting on the Weiler’s decision infuriated backers of the 32 and public labs, and individual scientists are NRC panel to rescue the field from that un- Pluto mission. Public groups such as Pasa- 31 scrambling to get a piece of an area that was certainty by providing a set of scientific ob- dena’s Planetary Society joined scientific ad- 30 once the domain of a few privileged institu- jectives and associated missions for the next vocates in arguing that Pluto was the more

29 tions and researchers. decade on which everyone can agree. The urgent target, because its orbit was taking it CREDITS: TO ESA;BOTTOM) (TOP NASA

32 4 JANUARY 2002 VOL 295 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org N EWS F OCUS 65 64 63 Lab Rivalry Spices Up Solar ters decided to open up portions of the Mars exploration effort to 62 competition, and spiraling costs on the proposed Pluto and Europa 61 System Exploration missions sparked a political furor in Washington. 60 PASADENA, CALIFORNIA—The battle over who will build the next The crises have contributed to sagging morale and a sense of be- 59 round of U.S. missions to explore the solar system is a classic ing under siege, say JPL employees. But Stone’s successor, Charles 58 match-up between the grizzled veteran and the young and hungry Elachi, says the new competition should be seen as a sign of the lab’s 57 challenger. But the real winner, if NASA officials and scientists can success, not failure. “We opened the frontiers of planetary explo- 56 be believed, will be science and the public. ration,” he says. “And like anybody who opens new frontiers, other 55 To many, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) here is planetary sci- people are going to follow.” Those include not just APL but also pri- 54 ence. Its star-studded cast of nearly two dozen missions includes vate companies such as Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace. 53 Mariner 2, which flew past Venus JPL can draw on its 4 decades of experience, a $1.4 billion 52 in 1962 in our first encounter annual budget, and some 5300 people at its sprawling facili- 51 with another planet; the Viking ties in the Pasadena hills. The lab has two spacecraft orbiting 50 orbiters, which mapped Mars in Mars, another on its way to Saturn, and a fourth en route to a 49 the mid-1970s; and the Voyager comet with hopes of bring back material from its nucleus. It 48 1 and 2 missions now leaving operates NASA’s Deep Space Network, the critical link in 47 the solar system. every planetary mission, and loans out its crack team of 46 So when Maryland’s Applied navigators—even to help APL on the tricky NEAR mission. 45 Physics Laboratory (APL) in Lau- “Clearly, JPL continues to be the flagship lab for NASA’s plan- 44 rel, part of Johns Hopkins Uni- etary exploration program,” acknowledges Krimigis. “We have 43 versity and traditionally a Navy no plans to duplicate JPL.” 42 contractor, offered to build an NASA space science chief 41 asteroid-rendezvous mission in Ed Weiler, who has criticized the 40 the early 1990s for less than Pasadena lab for under- 39 $150 million, it was seen as Making history. JPL’s Mariner 2 to estimating mission costs, says, 38 something of an upstart. “Every- Venus (right) provided first closeups “Whether or not some people 37 body laughed,” recalls Tom of another planet; upstart APL want to admit it, this country on March 12, 2012 36 Krimigis, APL’s space chief. APL wants to get personal with Mercury. needs JPL.” That means building 35 got the NASA contract, for $120 spacecraft as well as helping 34 million, after JPL engineers estimated it would cost them three times with navigation and communi- 33 as much. Although controllers had to abort the first attempt at ren- cations. “I have to find ways to 32 dezvous, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft be- keep JPL doing real engineering 31 gan orbiting Eros 2 years ago and last year landed on its surface. science,” he says. 30 APL’s bold proposal led NASA to create a competitive planetary Although APL and JPL are now cooperating on several missions, 29 program called Discovery. Last year alone, APL won two contracts the underlying rivalry seems unlikely to lose its edge. That’s in part 28 to explore the far corners of the solar system, from sun-hugging because APL has strong congressional backing, thanks to Senator www.sciencemag.org 27 Mercury to distant Pluto. This summer APL hopes to launch a pay- Barbara Mikulski (D–MD), who chairs the panel that funds NASA. 26 load that will fly by at least two comets. That’s an impressive Although APL director Richard Roca says he doesn’t plan to ramp 25 showing for a lab where only about one-fifth of the 3200 staff up the NASA-funded portion of his lab, the competition does serve 24 members are involved in space projects. as a useful tool for NASA managers to stimulate new ideas, shore 23 On the other side of the continent, JPL is still struggling to cope up political support, and save money. 22 with the new world of competition. The disastrous loss of three That’s good news for scientists, who are eager to fly more 21 Mars missions during the 1990s tarnished the reputation of the instruments. “It’s great,” says one researcher who has worked Downloaded from 20 lab, which is affiliated with the California Institute of Technology, with both labs. “The competition keeps people honest—and costs 19 and last year longtime director Ed Stone retired. NASA headquar- under control.” –ANDREW LAWLER 18 17 16 Budget for NASA Planetary Science Missions farther from the sun and its already Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Insti- 15 1400 thin atmosphere could freeze by tute in Boulder, Colorado, to run the mission,

14 1200 Outer planets 2020. A NASA advisory panel with Johns Hopkins University’s Applied 13 Propulsion program subsequently agreed with that Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, to technology 12 1000 assessment—if the costs of a Pluto develop the spacecraft and instruments. 11 800 mission could be held at $500 mil- The congressional move angered OMB 10 lion. The White House refused to deputy director Sean O’Keefe, who last 600 Mars exploration 9 program request Pluto money in its 2002 month took over as NASA administrator, as 8 400 budget, although NASA continued well as Isakowitz and Sponberg. And NASA 7 preparations at the request of the officials say they’ve learned a valuable les- Budget authority ($ millions) 6 200 Discovery program Senate. Following an intensive lob- son. “We should not eat our own,” says Operating missions/other 5 0 bying campaign by Pluto backers, Colleen Hartman, NASA’s solar system ex- 4 20022003 2004 2005 2006 Congress added $30 million to ploration chief. “That’s what’s happened 3 Fiscal year keep the mission alive through with Pluto and Europa.” 2 Upward bound. NASA spending on planetary missions is 2002. Last month Weiler awarded a Weiler, meanwhile, says he has no inten-

1 JHU/APL;CREDITS: BOTTOM) TO GSFC/NASA; (TOP SOURCE: OMB slated to rise 50% between 2002 and 2006. contract to planetary astronomer tion of being placed in such an uncomfort-

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 295 4 JANUARY 2002 33 N EWS F OCUS 65 able position again. He asked the 64 NRC to come up with a decade- 63 long plan that would force the sci- 62 ence community to adopt a ranked 61 list of projects and objectives. 60 59 Paneling together 58 Led by retired astronomer Michael 57 Belton, the 16-member NRC steer- 56 ing group and its half-dozen panels 55 went to work last summer and are 54 due to complete the survey in May 53 or June. The timing will coincide 52 with a legislative debate on the fate 51 of missions including Europa and 50 Pluto. The panel’s most pressing 49 task will be to win consensus in a 48 traditionally diverse field that lacks 47 the hierarchical leadership of more 46 established areas such as astrono- 45 my. “There is no planetary pope,” 44 quips Sykes. He has helped involve 43 some 350 researchers in the NRC 42 study, ensuring that the community 41 has a say—and a stake—in the fi- 40 nal report. 39 Nothing short of consensus 38 will do. At the 15 November tele- 37 conference, the first one in which on March 12, 2012 36 members talked with OMB offi- 35 cials, Isakowitz and Sponberg 34 told the NRC panel that there is 33 not enough money to go to both 32 Europa and Pluto and that the 31 community is undermining itself 30 by lobbying Congress and oppos- 29 ing the president. “This is a free- 28 for-all,” complained Sponberg. www.sciencemag.org 27 The Pluto funding approved by 26 Congress, he added, “may have 25 irreparably damaged planetary 24 funding for the next several 23 years.” Delaying Europa in favor 22 of Pluto is “pretty unlikely,” he 21 added, and the idea of letting Congress of scientific, technical, and political issues distribution of past missions throughout the Downloaded from 20 make the cuts necessary to fund Pluto is not while remaining united. The sheer breadth solar system. Some planets such as Mars and 19 very appealing, either. “Probably the most of solar system science alone will make for Venus have been visited frequently, prompt- 18 likely option,” he said, is to cancel funding very difficult choices, and every subdisci- ing plans for landers and, eventually, sample 17 for both Europa and Pluto. pline has pressing questions. Radar images returns with accompanying large costs. Other 16 Panel members were appalled by that grim of Mercury show evidence of polar frost on bodies such as Neptune and Uranus have 15 scenario. Belton tried to defend the push to that fiery planet. A uniform resurfacing of only been briefly glimpsed by Voyager, and 14 fund Pluto, arguing that it was a natural re- Venus about 500 million years ago intrigues Pluto and Kuiper Belt objects—potential 13 sponse by a community that wants both mis- geologists. How much water ran free on comets orbiting beyond Neptune—have only 12 sions. “What were we supposed to do,” Mars, and for how long, remains a subject been observed through telescopes. Cheaper 11 he asked the budget examiners, “roll over?” of intense debate. In the outer solar system, orbiters and flybys make more sense for that 10 Pluto’s advocates also deny that their lobbying Jupiter’s 300-year-old storms baffle re- early stage of exploration. Meanwhile, dis- 9 is selfish. “This is a groundbreaking mission searchers, Saturn’s moon Titan shows excit- coveries from ongoing missions such as 8 that NASA advisory panels have put as their ing evidence of organic molecules, and Cassini, due to arrive at Saturn in 2004, could 7 top priority,” says Stern, who will be principal Neptune’s high winds are a puzzle on a open up new areas for research. 6 investigator. Supporters, he notes, have simply planet so far from the sun. The nature of White papers from the 20-odd commu- 5 been making use of “the democratic process.” Pluto’s companion, Charon, remains a mys- nity groups organized by Sykes have thrown 4 tery. The density of comets is still not up a huge list of possible missions and ob- 3 Asteroid advantage known, and the composition of asteroids is jectives, while JPL—the longtime leader in 2 Duly chastised by the White House, Belton’s more varied than imagined. overseeing planetary projects—has pro-

1 panel now must juggle a complicated array Jealousies are also aroused by the uneven posed ambitious efforts ranging from a $500 CREDITS: (IMAGES) NASA, JHU/APL; ILLUSTRATION: C. SLAYDEN

34 4 JANUARY 2002 VOL 295 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org N EWS F OCUS strives to combine research into life in extreme environments on Earth with study of potentially life-friendly places such as Mars and Europa. The White House’s interest in the search for life also has led di- rectly to a stable and politically val- ued Mars exploration program, with a price tag in excess of $500 million annually, as well as a green light for the Europa mission. “Bio- centric arguments have tended to do well, and that has pulled the rest of activities along,” says Isakowitz. But astrobiology gets little re- spect from many traditional plane- tary scientists, who see it more as a creation of Washington politicians than as a legitimate research area. That was evident at the November meeting here during an astrobiolo- gy briefing by Bruce Jakosky, an atmospheric physicist at the Uni- versity of Colorado, Boulder. “This is like teaching freshman geology,” he complained, as panel members leafed through newspapers or chat- ted quietly with other participants. on March 12, 2012 The complaint against astrobiol- ogy is that the field is heavy on hype and light on results. “Are we selling packaging or content?” asks Sykes. Briefings to lawmakers about the Europa mission, he says, “leave them with the impression that [the spacecraft] will capture caribou walking across the ice.” He www.sciencemag.org warns that overselling astrobiology could be disastrous. Such skepticism seems to hold the upper hand within the NRC panel. John Baross, an oceanogra- pher at the University of Washing- million lunar sample return to a $1 billion versity of Maryland, College Park. ton, Seattle, who co-chairs the survey’s astro- Downloaded from 65 mission to float a balloon over the possible The report is not expected to contain biology panel, says that the topic will be inte- 64 methane ocean of Saturn’s moon Titan. Sur- calls for huge missions, including planetary grated into the whole report rather than be a 63 vey members aim to come up with a list sample returns. “Those will be in our vision stand-alone chapter. “It’s a shame,” Baross 62 of scientific objectives and associated of the future” beyond 2013, says panel adds, because he believes that planetary sci- 61 missions. The panel also wants to create a member Nagy. “For the report to have an ence, now almost wholly dependent on 60 “Discovery-plus” program for missions impact, it has to be realistic.” NASA’s Hart- NASA, could be enriched by funding from 59 costing on the order of $500 million that man agrees: “We do not need, in the next the National Science Foundation and the Na- 58 will be chosen by open competition. Belton decade, a $1 billion mission,” she warned tional Institutes of Health. 57 says this proposal is still in draft form, but the panel in November. “I don’t believe I Administration officials make no bones 56 “I feel it will carry the day.” will be able to sell it.” about their frustration with astrobiology 55 Comet and asteroid studies are likely to skeptics in academia. “Decision-makers are 54 fare particularly well in the new report, The astrobiology gap excited by the possibility that we could revo- 53 thanks to nature as much as to their scientif- To be successful, the survey team also must lutionize whole areas of science and our view 52 ic value. Such bodies are easier and cheaper bridge a fundamental philosophical divide of the universe” through astrobiology, said 51 to reach than planets and don’t require com- in the planetary community exposed by the Sponberg. “That’s really exciting.” He argues 50 plex and expensive maneuvering to get Pluto and Europa dispute. Since 1996, with that the interest in astrobiology will benefit 49 spacecraft into orbit. “It looks like cost will the backing of the White House, NASA has all aspects of planetary science. Weiler 48 drive things toward missions to small bod- plowed ever larger amounts of funding— agrees. “It’s really scary when OMB may 47 ies,” says Michael A’Hearn, an NRC panel about $30 million for this year—into the have more vision than scientists,” he says. 46 member and a comet astronomer at the Uni- nascent study of astrobiology. That field “The most important scientific discovery that

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 295 4 JANUARY 2002 35 N EWS F OCUS 65 64 could be made in this century is the discov- SOLAR SYSTEM 63 ery of life [elsewhere] in the universe.” JAPAN 62 Some researchers hope to find a middle 61 ground that recognizes the political value of 60 searching for extraterrestrial life without en- Researchers Fear Merger 59 dangering the credibility of a scientific plan. 58 “Both sides are right,” says Jonathan Lunine, 57 a physicist at the University of Arizona and Could Muffle Their Voice 56 co-chair of the astrobiology panel. “There is As Japan plans to combine its two space agencies, researchers wonder 55 a political aspect associated with astrobiolo- how they will be heard 54 gy. But we are on the threshold of bringing different disciplines TOKYO—Being small has its advantages. industry. NASDA has broadened its vision together, and this is For nearly 4 decades Japanese space scien- in recent years, using remote-sensing satel- an important new tists have been allowed to call the shots on lites to study long-term weather patterns endeavor.” Hartman planetary exploration—setting the agenda and watch for signs of global warming. It is thinks that “the de- and running their own missions. And the re- also collaborating with ISAS on the 2005 bate is couched in- sults have been impressive, including a Selene mission to the moon, which will correctly” and that string of successful probes studying the sun, probe, among other things, its mineral com- astrobiology should Halley’s Comet, and Earth’s magnetosphere. position, topography, and gravity field. But be considered as But now the Institute of Space and As- researchers still view NASDA as an organi- one driver of the tronautical Science (ISAS), whose modest zation whose priorities and missions are set overall program. budget has funded the bulk of university- at the top and are aimed at fostering com- based research in the field, is being merged mercial aerospace development. Policing the future with Japan’s giant National Space Develop- The merger will certainly provide some 53 Planetary pope? With the panel’s ment Agency (NASDA) and the National new opportunities. ISAS missions will be 52 Michael Belton hopes survey now in full Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) as part of a able to take advantage of NASDA’s H-IIA 51 NRC panel can reach swing and Sykes sweeping streamlining of the nation’s bu- rocket, with four times the lifting capacity 50 consensus. collecting input reaucracy. Although there will undoubtedly of the institute’s M-V rocket. Previously, on March 12, 2012 49 from hundreds of be benefits to being part of a larger, 48 researchers, participants are optimistic more powerful agency, scientists are 47 about their chances of coming up with a worried that the loss of independence 46 definitive decade-long plan. “The commu- will put science in the shadow of the 45 nity is rising to the challenge,” says Belton. more commercial aspects of space. 44 “And we’ve been able to communicate with “We’re concerned that there will be 43 a large fraction” of its researchers. The ulti- a lack of visibility for space science 42 mate audience, however, won’t be re- once these organizations are merged,” 41 searchers: “The prime customers are says Takeo Kosugi, who heads ISAS’s www.sciencemag.org 40 NASA, OMB, and Congress,” he adds. It’s solar physics program and is also chair 39 an audience that scientists can’t afford to ig- of the Space Research Committee of 38 nore, Hartman warned the panel: “We’re in the Science Council of Japan, the na- 37 a fight for scarce resources, a fight we are tion’s largest association of scientists. 36 currently poised to lose.” “We worry that if bureaucrats control 35 Sykes says that the ultimate value of the the decisions, budget cuts will fall es- 34 survey would be to provide “long-term pecially hard on space science.” Downloaded from 33 cover” for Washington officials like Weiler NASDA is a very different beast 32 and Isakowitz, who must make tough deci- from ISAS. It develops heavy-lifting 31 sions on planetary program spending. The rockets for launching weather and 30 community is not likely to respond favor- communications satellites and man- 29 ably to threats or scapegoating, he notes, ages Japan’s contribution to the inter- 28 adding that attempts to kill healthy pro- national space station. It also dwarfs Slow mo. Launched in 1998, Nozomi overcame flight 27 grams—such as Pluto—simply invite scien- ISAS in size, with a current budget of troubles and is set for a 2004 Mars rendezvous. 26 tists to lobby influential backers. A good $1.7 billion and 1090 employees com- 25 survey, he says, will do away with much of pared with $223 million and 325 staffers for cooperation between the two agencies was 24 this tension by carving out a clear path. ISAS. Including NAL, whose 410 re- extremely difficult because they were affili- 23 Sponberg agrees that the survey will be a searchers use its $166 million budget to ated with different ministries, which rigidly 22 critical element in solidifying support for study fluid dynamics and other more tech- protected their turf. 21 planetary science. But he warned the panel nological problems, the merger will further Kosugi also believes that the merger 20 that the report is only a first step—and that tilt the new agency toward applied fields. might be an opportunity to revamp space 19 maintaining consensus will be a full-time job But more troubling to researchers than science efforts. He thinks ISAS has out- 18 requiring strong leadership. Sykes is confi- NASDA’s size is its culture. ISAS’s missions grown its committee-based decision-mak- 17 dent that the field is mature enough to take are proposed by research groups and re- ing process, which he says worked well 16 responsibility for its own future. “It has taken viewed by committees of scientists and en- when the agency had just two major re- 15 40 years,” he says. “But now the community gineers. NASDA is run by bureaucrats search groups, one for x-ray astronomy and

14 CREDITS: TO NOAO/AURA/NSF;BOTTOM) (TOP ISAS is big enough to do this.” –ANDREW LAWLER charged with developing Japan’s aerospace one studying magnetospheres. But that con-

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