AAE Professor of Practice Dan Dumbacher is co-chairing a committee to review NASA’s progress in addressing the strategies, goals, and priorities outlined in the 2011 National Research Council (NRC) decadal survey report, “Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration, Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era.” The goal of the survey is to recommend national strategy for solar system exploration for NASA and the NSF in the decade from 2013 to 2022.

Dumbacher is co-chairing the “Midterm Assessment of Implementation of the Decadal Survey on Life and Physical Sciences Research at NASA” ad hoc committee for The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The committee is charged with reviewing the “highest priority recommendations” in the decadal survey and identifying and ranking a set of targeted research priorities that are critical for NASA to conduct in order to enable the expansion of human exploration into deep space. The committee will also recommend the platform environment where this research should take place in order to be successful, such as Earth analogs, LEO (on ISS through 2024), LEO (on other platforms), and beyond Earth orbit (such as, a cis-lunar habitat).  

“This work is extremely important as we extend the human neighborhood beyond low earth orbit and into deep space,” says Dumbacher. “Life and Physical Science research is essential to assuring healthy space travelers. With this National Academies activity, Purdue has the opportunity to be visibly involved in the planning and assessment so essential for long term, sustainable space exploration.”

Dumbacher says the report will be delivered to NASA by the end of 2017. He says there will also be a public press briefing about the report.