Several hundred U.S. astronomers were involved either in the panels or as consultants. Seven of the nine panels dealt with sub-disciplinary areas and each prepared a report that identified the most important scientific goals in their respective areas, prioritized new initiatives needed to achieve those goals, recommended proposals for technology development, considered the possibilities for international collaboration, and discussed relevant policy issues. The committee s report discusses scientific priorities that are central to astronomy and astrophysics. The report notes that astrophysical theorists can help guide the choice of instruments and the interpretation of data, and it recommends that one or more Theory Challenges be integrated into most major initiatives to focus attention on the scientific objectives of the project. It also recommends that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration enhance its Astrophysics Theory Program.
Education is a major focus of the report.
Each of these missions offers powerful and unique capabilities. Study of the Sun, which is important both scientifically and economically, will be carried out by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, part of NASA s living with a star initiative. The NVO will integrate major astronomical data archives into a database accessible via the internet with standards and tools for data exploration. NASA s Office of Space Science will necessarily play a central role in implementing the priorities of the astronomy survey because many of the major initiatives are space-based, including the overall top priority the Next Generation Space Telescope. The space environment is crucial in astronomy because the Earth s atmosphere is opaque to many of the essential wavelengths, and it blurs the formation of images at other wavelengths.