Tracking Nnmber 2010-04-11 (SC-04) 

Astro2010 Decadal Snrvey 

NASA Advisory Council Recommendation: 

A. NASA's Implementation of Wide Field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Mission 

• NASA should proceed with implementation of WFIRST as the top priority large space 

mission of Astro201 0. 

• NASA should solicit nominations for the WFIRST Science Definition Team (SDT) as soon 

as possible, including representatives of all three of WFIRST's science areas and members 

of ESA's Dark Energy Mission, Euclid. By Summer 2011, the SDT should complete a 

conceptual mission design that is mature enough to support NASA negotiations with ESA 

on a collaborative mission. 

B. NASA's role in ESA's Euclid Mission 

• NASA should keep open the option of possible partnership with ESA on the Euclid 

mission. 

• If Euclid is selected by ESA, NASA's goal should be the negotiation of a joint ESAINASA 

program that meets the science goals of both the Euclid and WFIRST missions and is 

comprised of either a single combined mission or two complementary missions. 

C. NASA's role in ESA's PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO), Mission 

• NASA should inform ESA that NASA will not seek a strategic partnership on PLATO, 

since its science investigation was not recommended in the Decadal Survey. 

NASA Response: 

NASA concurs and is moving forward with some aspects of this recommendation. 

A. NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) issued its call for nominations for the 

WFIRST Science Definition Team (SDT) on October 19,2010. Nominations closed on 

November 23, 20 I 0, with a total of 82 letters of interest received from scientists and 

technologists in the U.S. and abroad. SMD signed the charter for the WFIRST SDT and posted 

it online at http://wfirst.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/WFIRST _ SDT _Charter. pdf. The SDT members 

were announced in December 2010; they held their first telecon on January 3, 2011, and first 

in-person meeting on February 3-4, 2011. The SDT will consider the mission requirements 

recommended in the Decadal Survey and the implementation options in the December 2010 

National Research Council (NRC) report on Implementing the Recommendations of the New 

Worlds, New Horizons (N\VNH) Decadal Survey, which overlap with, though are not identical 

to, the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) recommendation. 

B. As noted in the FY2012 President's Budget Request, NASA will explore a potential joint 

European Space Agency (ESA)/NASA mission that is in line with Option B of the December 

20 I 0 NRC report. Option B is defined in the report as "a single, international mission, 

combining WFIRST and ESA's Euclid. Either a U.S.-led mission or an ESA-led mission could 

Enclosure 
be consistent with the NVlNH report, contingent on whether or not the United States plays "a 

leading role" and "so long as the committee's recommended science program is preserved and 

overall cost savings result" (p. 1-6)." We will work closely with the Office of Science and 

Technology Policy and the Office of Management Budget during the evolving decision-making 

process, and we will continue to update the NAC as circumstances warrant. 

C. NASA informed ESA on October 7, 2010, that we would not be pursuing a strategic 

partnership on PLATO.