Related papers: What can Space Resources do for Astronomy and Plan…
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the effective beginning of large, systematic redshift surveys of galaxies. These surveys have had a major impact on observational cosmology and on our current understanding of large-scale structures…
Observatories are complex scientific and technical institutions serving diverse users and purposes. Their telescopes, instruments, software, and human resources engage in interwoven workflows over a broad range of timescales. These…
We argue that it is essential that the Astro2020 survey of the present state of American astronomy and the recommendations for the next decade address the issue of ensuring preservation of, and making more discoverable and accessible, the…
Interstellar exploration will advance human knowledge and culture in multiple ways. Scientifically, it will advance our understanding of the interstellar medium, stellar astrophysics, planetary science and astrobiology. In addition,…
We seek to compile a uniform set of basic capabilities and needs to maximize the yield of Solar System science with future Astrophysics assets while allowing those assets to achieve their Astrophysics priorities. Within considerations of…
The past fifty years have been an epoch of impressive progress in the field of astronomical technology. Practically all the technical tools, which we use today, have been developed during that time span. While the first half of this period…
The construction of a space elevator would be an inspiring feat of planetary engineering of immense cost and risk. But would the benefit outweigh the costs and risks? What, precisely, is the purpose for building such a structure? For…
Space exploration has been on the rise since the 1960s. Along with the other planets such as Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter, Mars certainly plays a significant role in the history of space exploration and has the potential to be the…
As a short introduction to the astronomy session, the response of the community to the Call for Themes issued by ESA and the specific themes selected by the Astronomy Working Group are briefly presented in connection with the four grand…
In the distant past, telescopes were known, first and foremost, for the sizes of their apertures. Advances in technology are now enabling astronomers to build extremely powerful instruments to the extent that instruments have now achieved…
About one fifth of Ph.D's across all STEM disciplines secure a tenure track position in academia. It is also the case that science and engineering have evolved significantly and so has the nature of the labor market and the increasingly…
We outline the challenges faced by the planetary science community in the era of next-generation large-scale astronomical surveys, and highlight needs that must be addressed in order for the community to maximize the quality and quantity of…
We estimate the carbon footprint of astronomical research infrastructures, including space telescopes and probes and ground-based observatories. Our analysis suggests annual greenhouse gas emissions of $1.2\pm0.2$ MtCO$_2$e yr$^{-1}$ due to…
The trend of space commercialization is changing the decision-making process for future space exploration architectures, and there is a growing need for a new decision-making framework that explicitly considers the interactions between the…
During the 2024's quinquennial scientific roadmap of CNES, a specific group worked on setting recommendations to decrease the environmental footprint of space science activities. This correspondence to Nature Astronomy highlights the…
With an initial requirement to make observations a minimum of 5-10 years, Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has continued to operate well for 30 years. It has relied upon five servicing missions to repair and replace essential components. Since…
Planetary science beyond the boundaries of our Solar System is today in its infancy. Until a couple of decades ago, the detailed investigation of the planetary properties was restricted to objects orbiting inside the Kuiper Belt. Today, we…
Astronomy, as many other scientific disciplines, is facing a true data deluge which is bound to change both the praxis and the methodology of every day research work. The emerging field of astroinformatics, while on the one end appears…
As orbital debris continues to become a higher priority for the space industry, there is a need to explore how partnerships between the public and private space sector may aid in addressing this issue. This research develops a space…
Advancing the scientific frontier in the search for life in the universe requires support of searches for both biosignatures and technosignatures. A modest budgetary increment can expand the search for life in the universe from primitive to…