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What’s Ahead
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| Image credit – Architect of the Capitol |
Stopgap Spending in Place, Lawmakers Depart Washington
President Biden signed a short-term spending bill last week that will keep the federal government functioning through Dec. 16, giving Congress time to negotiate finalized spending legislation for fiscal year 2023, which began Oct. 1. The agreement funds most federal programs at their current levels through the end of the year and provides $12 billion in supplemental funding for activities related to the war in Ukraine, including $136 million for R&D programs at the Department of Defense and $35 million for the Department of Energy to prepare for potential nuclear events in Ukraine. It also extends the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction authority through Dec. 16. Congress did not provide the extra $1.5 billion the administration requested for efforts to reduce U.S. reliance on Russia for supplies of low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium. It also left out a measure introduced by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that would have expedited permits for energy projects.
After completing their work on the stopgap, lawmakers departed Washington, D.C., and Congress will now be mostly out of session through the November election. Behind the scenes, congressional staff members may continue to hammer out budget details, but the current proposals on the table, summarized in FYI’s Federal Science Budget Tracker, will be subject to significant revision once Democrats and Republicans agree to overall levels for federal spending. The terms of that agreement are themselves apt to be shaped by whether Republicans win control over one or both chambers of Congress. Negotiations over the annual National Defense Authorization Act are expected to be less eventful and a few senators will be on the floor next week to advance the legislative process, but votes will not take place until after lawmakers return.
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In Case You Missed It
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| SOFIA at sunset before an observing flight from Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2018. (Image credit – Nicholas Veronico / NASA) |
SOFIA Airborne Telescope Completes Final Flight
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) undertook its final science flight on Sept. 29. Comprising a telescope provided by Germany that is mounted aboard a modified 747 airplane, SOFIA has performed observations at far-infrared wavelengths by flying above virtually all the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere. Among its accomplishments over the course of its service, the observatory has detected water in sunlit parts of the lunar surface and observed stars forming behind obscuring clouds of gas and dust. The mission was originally recommended in the 1990 National Academies astrophysics decadal survey and development began in 1996, but its cost ultimately ballooned to more than $1 billion and it did not begin full science operations until 2014. Since then, it has cost NASA’s Astrophysics Division more than $80 million per year to operate, a toll that ultimately led the agency to propose sunsetting the mission in view of its low scientific productivity relative to similarly expensive missions. The Biden administration has requested $10 million to close out SOFIA’s mission in fiscal year 2023 and the House has proposed providing $30 million.
SpaceX Exploring Orbit Boost for Hubble Space Telescope
NASA announced an agreement last week that allows the company SpaceX to study the feasibility of boosting the orbit of the Hubble Space Telescope using a mission in the Polaris Program, a privately funded astronautics initiative that employs SpaceX vehicles. The ongoing decay of the telescope’s orbit is one factor limiting its potential lifespan, which NASA currently expects will extend into the late 2020s or early 2030s. SpaceX and the Polaris Program will conduct the study at no cost to the government and NASA has reserved the right to allow other companies to explore undertaking a similar mission. NASA has recently been working to integrate commercial spaceflight services into its science programs and the agency’s first commercially operated robotic mission to the lunar surface is aiming to launch late this year.
DART Hits Bullseye
On Sept. 26, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission successfully collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the larger asteroid Didymos. As DART closed in on Dimorphos, it revealed the asteroid has a surface covered in rubble, and after impact an accompanying cubesat built by the Italian Space Agency imaged debris streaming off into space. The impact was also observed by both the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes as well as by ground-based telescopes. Observers are now working to determine how much the impact altered Dimorphos’ orbit, a measurement that will inform any future efforts to deflect an asteroid that is found to present a danger to Earth.
DOE Science Projects Begin Receiving Inflation Reduction Act Funds
Tim Hallman, head of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Physics program, reported last week on how the program is allocating the $217 million it received through the new Inflation Reduction Act. He said about $138 million has already been delivered to the flagship Electron-Ion Collider project, with its host Brookhaven National Lab receiving $105 million and Jefferson Lab, a major partner on the project, receiving $33 million. Shortfalls in expected appropriations to date have raised the prospect that Brookhaven could be forced to lay off personnel with expertise important to the project. Aside from its work on the collider, Jefferson Lab received a further $31 million for work on its MOLLER (Measurement of a Lepton-Lepton Electroweak Reaction) experiment. Berkeley Lab received almost $8 million for the GRETA (Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking Array) detector to be installed at the new Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University. Hallman said that in October almost $30 million will be provided for the High Rigidity Spectrometer, which is another equipment project for FRIB, while more than $8 million will support early work on a neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. Separately, Barbara Helland, the head of DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program, reported that the $164 million her program received from the IRA has been split between the high-performance computing facilities at Berkeley Lab and Oak Ridge and Argonne National Labs, primarily to buy down leases on machines they are currently upgrading. The Inflation Reduction Act is also providing a funding boost for DOE’s High Energy Physics, Basic Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, and Isotope R&D and Production programs, as well as for general lab infrastructure projects, but the department has not yet indicated how it is allocating those funds.
New Law Adds Restrictions to Small Business R&D Programs
On Sept. 30, President Biden signed legislation that extends the multiagency Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs by three years and adds new eligibility requirements for companies applying for program funds. Although Congress has routinely renewed the programs, which together distribute several billion dollars annually, this year key lawmakers used the latest expiration deadline to press for new research security measures and grantee performance benchmarks. Lawmakers struck a deal at the last minute, with the Senate introducing and passing the legislation by unanimous consent two weeks before the expiration and the House following suit last week with a vote of 415 to 9. Among the new requirements, federal agencies are prohibited from issuing SBIR or STTR awards to companies that have certain types of connections to “countries of concern,” defined to include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and any other nations designated by the secretary of state. Prohibited ties include having owners or certain employees who participate in a “malign” foreign talent recruitment program, maintain a “business entity, parent company, or subsidiary” in a country of concern, or have an “affiliation with a research institution” in a country of concern. Affiliations are defined as “a funded or unfunded academic, professional, or institutional appointment or position with a foreign government or government-owned entity, whether full-time, part-time, or voluntary.” Applicants must also disclose various other ties, including any “technology licensing or intellectual property sales” to countries of concern during the five-year period preceding their grant application.
Academies Report Seeks Paradigm Shift on Research Security
The National Academies released a study last week that recommends the U.S. place less emphasis on limiting foreign access to specific critical technologies and instead prioritize efforts to preserve the country’s overall edge in technology development, such as by maintaining an open research environment that attracts talented scientists from around the world. The study committee points to the increasing importance of “platforms,” defined as systems of enabling technologies and associated “institutional and human infrastructure” that lay foundations for new breakthroughs, and it recommends the U.S. develop a strategy for “managing trust relationships among platform developers or users, including international governance mechanisms.” It also calls for the president to revisit a prior presidential directive on research security, arguing that the policy focuses on the products of research rather than the research process itself and “does not address the need to protect access to top talent or to preserve open environments that foster disruptive discoveries.” The study was funded by the Defense Department and the National Science Foundation and conducted by an 11-member committee co-chaired by former intelligence official Sue Gordon and physicist Pat Gallagher, who directed the National Institute of Standards and Technology from 2009 to 2014.
GAO Weighs In on Satellite Megaconstellations
The Government Accountability Office issued a report on Sept. 29 that outlines approaches for mitigating the impacts of large constellations of satellites, such as interference with ground-based astronomical observations, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and increased orbital debris. The report stops short of offering formal recommendations and instead presents four broad avenues for policy action: supporting research to assess satellite impacts and develop mitigation technologies, facilitating data sharing, developing a regulatory framework for satellite constellations, and building national and international organizational structures to oversee mitigation efforts. The astronomy community has been working with satellite operators for several years to identify technical and policy solutions to reduce the impacts of satellite constellations, and this summer the International Astronomical Union launched the Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference to facilitate international collaboration on the matter.
Science Committee Bills Aim to Clamp Down on Methane Emissions
The House Science Committee introduced a trio of bills last week focused on reducing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The legislative effort builds on a report prepared by Democratic committee staff that argued fossil fuel companies are failing to adequately monitor and repair methane leaks, especially intermittent “super-emitting” leaks that are responsible for a disproportionate fraction of the sector’s emissions.
- The Methane Emissions Mitigation R&D Act introduced by Reps. Sean Casten (D-IL) and Peter Meijer (R-MI) would direct the Department of Energy to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for methane emissions mitigation methods. It also directs DOE to support a consortium of federal agencies and national labs, oil and gas companies, university researchers, and community groups to facilitate data sharing and research on cooperative leak detection and repair.
- The Methane Super-Emitter Strategy Act introduced by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) would direct NASA to commission a National Academies panel to produce a “science-based strategy for the federal government to detect and monitor methane super-emitters.”
- The Methane Emissions Research Act introduced by Committee Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) would direct the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a pilot study to quantify methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure in two oil and gas producing regions in the U.S.
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Events This Week
All times are Eastern Daylight Time, unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement.
Monday, October 3
Tuesday, October 4
Wednesday, October 5
Thursday, October 6
Friday, October 7
Sunday, October 9
Monday, October 10
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Opportunities DOE Hiring Director for Fusion Energy Sciences Program
The Department of Energy is hiring a new head for its Office of Fusion Energy Sciences to replace retiring office head Jim Van Dam. Responsibilities for the position include formulating budget requests, coordinating DOE activities with other science agencies, and liaising with stakeholders in Congress and representatives of foreign research institutions. Applications are due Oct. 10.
NSF Accepting Nominations for Vannevar Bush Award
The National Science Board is currently seeking nominations for its annual Vannevar Bush Award, which honors individuals on the basis of intellectual merit, service to the STEM ecosystem, and broader social impact. Nominations are due Oct. 6.
Technology Policy Accelerator Seeks Equity Pitches
The Day One Project is accepting applications for its Racial Equity in Tech Policy Accelerator program. Over the course of nine weeks, participants will craft an “actionable set of policy recommendations” that address one of four topics: tech company transparency, worker protections, the social consequences of artificial intelligence, and the spread of online misinformation. Applicants are not required to have prior policy experience, but should have deep knowledge at the intersection of race and technology. Submissions are due Oct. 18.
Know of an upcoming science policy event either inside or outside the Beltway? Email us at fyi@aip.org.
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