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What’s Ahead
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| The Nakia Creek wildfire in Washington, imaged by the Landsat 8 satellite on Oct. 16. (Image credit – USGS) |
Senators Examining Future of Earth Observation Programs
The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is holding a hearing on Thursday to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat program and to consider the future of U.S. satellite-based Earth observation activities. In recent years, Earth observation has been moving away from using large satellites with complex instrument suites toward more disaggregated constellations of smaller satellites, supplemented by commercial data from private satellites. This shift has in turn stoked interest around what architectures are most appropriate for government-run Earth observing systems, what special value public datasets provide, and what public data can be responsibly obtained from commercial sources. These considerations will inform the design of systems such as the next Landsat satellite as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s next generation of weather satellites, which was the focus of a September hearing held by the House Science Committee. Senior officials from NOAA, USGS, and NASA will testify at this week’s hearing alongside the CEO of satellite services company Maxar and the director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
NOAA Responds to Weather Research Priorities Report
At a meeting of its Science Advisory Board spanning Wednesday and Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will present its response to a report the board completed a year ago that proposes weather research priorities for the next 10 years. Posted ahead of the meeting, the response broadly concurs with the report’s various recommendations. Concerning one of the more ambitious recommendations, to multiply the agency’s computing power by at least 100 times, NOAA notes that recent supplemental appropriations will allow it to double its computing power, which it will then use to “demonstrate the need” for the full 100-fold increase. At the meeting, the board will also vote on whether to approve reports it has prepared on open science and open data, the migration of satellite data to cloud-based archives, and resilience in the face of rapidly changing marine environments.
National Science Board Convenes
The National Science Board, the governing body of the National Science Foundation, is holding its quarterly meeting this Thursday and Friday. Portions of the meeting open to the public will include an update on NSF’s nascent Sexual Assault/Harassment and Prevention Response program, which was launched in response to a recent report documenting widespread sexual harassment and assault at research facilities overseen by the NSF-led U.S. Antarctic Research Program. NSF Chief Operating Officer Karen Marrongelle will be appearing at a House Science Committee hearing on the matter next Tuesday. The board’s agenda also includes a panel discussion on workforce shortages in critical technologies and a discussion with President Biden’s science adviser Arati Prabhakar. In closed sessions on Friday, the board will discuss the agency’s implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act and strategies for its new Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate. The law identifies 10 “key technology focus areas” and five “societal, national, and geostrategic challenges” for the directorate to address and sets a goal of appropriating $16.3 billion to it over five years.
DC Hosting First Quantum World Congress
Scientists, executives, and policymakers are convening in Washington, D.C., this week for the first Quantum World Congress, an event organized by a regional coalition of boosters for an emergent quantum technology industry. Sessions will address issues such as the national security and legal implications of quantum technology, technology commercialization and engineering challenges, and supply-chain and workforce-development issues. Officials from 13 countries will also discuss national quantum R&D programs and opportunities for international collaboration at a special workshop before the congress officially begins. U.S. officials speaking at the congress include National Quantum Coordination Office Director Charles Tahan, National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie Locascio, Quantum Economic Development Consortium Executive Director Celia Merzbacher, Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger, and National Security Agency Director of Research Gil Herrera.
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In Case You Missed It
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| Using techniques such as high-resolution CT scanning, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and metallographic observation, ITER has discovered cracks, such as the 2.2-millimeter-deep one shown here, in cooling fluid pipes serving the facility’s thermal shield panels. (Image credit – ITER) |
Component Defects Deal New Setback to ITER
The governing council of the France-based international ITER facility held a meeting last week to review progress on its construction, during which ITER Director-General Pietro Barabaschi reported on defects found in critical components, including stress fractures in the thermal shields and misalignments in the welding of vacuum vessel sectors. Although the full extent of the damage to the shields is not known, Barabaschi said ITER plans to disassemble installed modules to repair the components, remarking, “The risk is too high, and the consequences of a leaking thermal shield panel during operation are too dire. We must assume the problem is extensive.” The project has halted assembly work as it assesses repair strategies and Barabaschi noted that the cost and schedule impacts of the repairs “will not be insignificant.” ITER has not yet officially changed its anticipated 2025 start date for the beginning of plasma operations, but even before this most recent announcement expectations were that startup was going to be delayed by at least 17 months due to COVID-related delays as well as supply-chain and engineering difficulties. The council has been planning to announce a new baseline cost and schedule early next year.
European Space Agency Sets Budget for Next Three Years
The governing council of the European Space Agency held its triennial ministerial meeting last week, announcing as it concluded that ESA member states had agreed to a three-year budget of €16.9 billion, up from the previous level of €14.5 billion. Much of the increase will go to human and robotic exploration programs. Funding for scientific programs is increasing from €2.8 billion to €3.2 billion and funding for Earth observation programs is increasing marginally to €2.7 billion. New programmatic commitments include building a lander for the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover to replace the Russia-built one that ESA abandoned after Russia invaded Ukraine. The council also approved the Argonaut lunar lander program, which will convey science experiments and cargo to the Moon, as well as two Earth science missions: a pair of satellites called Harmony that will study ice-ocean-land dynamics and a gravity-measuring satellite called MAGIC that will chart changes in the distribution of water on the Earth’s surface.
Senators Ask Appropriators to Meet CHIPS and Science Act Ambitions
With Congress still working to finalize the federal budget for fiscal year 2023, 15 senators sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee last week arguing it should fully fund the budget increases recommended in the CHIPS and Science Act. The senators note that Congress set similarly ambitious budget growth targets for science agencies through the America COMPETES Act of 2007 but failed to follow through, resulting in an estimated cumulative shortfall of $77 billion as of fiscal year 2021. They specifically ask appropriators to provide $1.5 billion each to the new Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships at the National Science Foundation and a new regional technology hub program at the Commerce Department. They also seek sharply increased funding for NSF’s education programs and for manufacturing programs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The letter was organized by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and it includes two Republican signatories: Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Separately, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) sent a letter to appropriators on Nov. 18 seeking full funding of the $25 million the CHIPS and Science Act authorized for a Carbon Material Science Initiative.
Science Committee Issues New Warning on Weather Data Interference
House Science Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ranking Member Frank Lucas (R-OK) urged the Federal Communications Commission last week not to allow commercial wireless carriers use of radio frequency bandwidths between 1675 and 1680 megahertz. That band is currently used for transmission by weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and FCC proposed opening it up to shared use in 2019. Citing an expansive study that NOAA completed in 2020, Johnson and Lucas argue the proposal presents “substantial risks” of interference with real-time weather data transmission. The Science Committee is one of several congressional committees that have drawn attention in recent years to the prospect that increasingly congested use of radio spectrum will interfere with critical applications such as Earth observations and the Global Positioning System. Under the Biden administration, FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which represents federal spectrum users, have resolved to improve their coordination on spectrum allocation decision-making.
White House Updates Climate and Economic Justice Tool
The White House launched an updated version of the “Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool” last week to help federal agencies implement the administration’s Justice40 initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of federal spending in areas such as climate change mitigation and environmental protection flow to disadvantaged communities. Building on a beta version released earlier this year, the new tool combines a variety of climate, environmental, health, and economic indicators to identify 27,251 communities as “disadvantaged” or “partially disadvantaged,” meaning they meet the threshold for at least one of the tool’s categories of burden or are on the lands of a federally recognized tribe. The Justice40 initiative encompasses hundreds of programs across agencies, including many of the activities funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. At the Department of Energy alone, over 140 programs are covered, including most of its applied energy R&D programs. The administration plans to continue updating the screening tool based on public feedback and the input of a new National Academies committee tasked with analyzing how to better incorporate environmental health and geospatial data.
Study Examines Fuel and Waste Management for Advanced Reactors
The National Academies released a study last week that assesses issues related to managing fuel cycles and waste disposal for the various designs of “advanced” nuclear reactors that are currently in development. Observing that fuel cycle management will be complicated by the range of fuel types these reactors will employ, the study finds the Department of Energy will have to “make difficult decisions about its advanced reactor research and development programs to guarantee support, via industry cost-sharing, for a few promising advanced reactor technologies and associated fuel cycle infrastructure in the next several years.” The study does not recommend particular fuel types but broadly concludes that advanced reactors will not be well positioned to recycle fuel anytime soon and offers recommendations for how the U.S. should proceed toward establishing one or more geologic repositories to store spent fuel. It also recommends DOE support long-range R&D on waste recycling and transmutation so as “not to preclude” such activities in the more distant future. The study was undertaken in response to congressional direction and chaired by Janice Dunn Lee, a former official with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Standard Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, November 28
Tuesday, November 29
Wednesday, November 30
Thursday, December 1
Friday, December 2
Monday, December 5
Acoustical Society of America: 183rd meeting
(continues through Friday)
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Opportunities FYI Hiring Senior Science Policy Editor and Reporter
Join our team! The American Institute of Physics is hiring a science policy reporter and a senior editor for science policy to contribute to FYI’s in-depth news and information resources. In addition to writing and editing, the senior editor will also work to shape FYI’s editorial strategy and build relationships with stakeholders. Applicants should have at least seven years of experience in policy reporting or policy analysis for the editor role and at least three years of experience for the reporter role.
White House Science Office Seeking Summer Interns
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is seeking applicants for an eight-week summer internship. Candidates must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program or have graduated within the last two years. Applications are due Dec 2.
FAS Hiring Director for Science Policy
The Federation of American Scientists is hiring an associate director for science policy. Applicants should have 10 to 15 years of experience in project and stakeholder management as well as knowledge of evidence-based policy and environmental justice issues. Applicants with experience working in the federal government or who have a doctorate in a related field are preferred.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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