Small Bodies Assessment Group

SBAG Findings

Findings from SBAG 31, July 11–12, 2024

1. Finding: SBAG strongly encourages NASA to make every effort to keep the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor space telescope on schedule so that its launch does not slip and the mission does not incur increased costs due to delay.
   NEO Surveyor funding was limited for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 due to budgetary constraints. The SBAG community is highly concerned that the mission launch date is in jeopardy, and a launch slip will incur increased future costs for the mission and delay the beginning of its five-year baseline survey to find at least two-thirds of the NEOs larger than 140 meters towards fulfillment of the George E. Brown Congressional goal of discovering 90% of the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population larger than this size. These are the objects large enough to cause major regional damage in the event of an Earth impact. NEO Surveyor will be able to make accurate measurements of NEO sizes and gain valuable information about their composition, shapes, rotational states, and orbits. As emphasized by previous PAC findings (e.g., June 2022, Finding #1), the community fully supports a timely launch for NEO Surveyor.
2. Finding: SBAG continues to encourage NASA to find a launch opportunity for Janus that supports compelling science and demonstrates the capabilities of low-cost spacecraft for advancing small-body exploration.
   Janus passed Key Decision Point-C (confirmation) in 2020, was demanifested from Psyche in 2022, canceled in 2023, and finally put into long-term storage in 2024. Janus consists of two assembled and capable small satellites that remain a scientific resource to the community that should not be disregarded. Thus, SBAG fully encourages NASA to find a scientifically compelling mission and suitable launch opportunity for Janus.
3. Finding: SBAG strongly advocates for NASA’s involvement in the full timeline of investigation opportunities that the close Earth approach of asteroid 99942 Apophis (2004 MN4) affords the scientific community in 2029.
   SBAG is encouraged by the progress undertaken by several international space agencies (e.g., ESA’s RAMSES and JAXA’s Destiny+ missions) to visit Apophis before and during its naturally occurring close approach (C/A) of the Earth in April 2029. SBAG urges NASA to engage with these efforts and be proactive in considering any and all existing US assets that can be used to observe Apophis, especially before and during its 2029 C/A. SBAG also urges NASA to continue to adequately and enthusiastically support planned post-C/A observations by the OSIRIS-APEX mission.
4. Finding: SBAG urges NASA to continue the cadence of Discovery and New Frontiers missions recommended by the Decadal Survey and inform the community in a timely fashion as new information becomes available regarding planned dates of future AOs.
   The Discovery and New Frontiers programs are the two primary means of support for NASA-led missions to small bodies. Delays in the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) cadence hamper the opportunities for the SBAG community to pursue new, cutting-edge science questions about small bodies that can only be addressed with spacecraft. Furthermore, those delays negatively impact funding stability and training opportunities for the next generation of researchers in the small bodies and broader planetary science communities, making retention of invaluable science and engineering expertise within those communities significantly more challenging.
5. Finding: SBAG urges NASA to continue collaborating with other agencies to invest in constructing new and upgraded radar infrastructure after the loss of Arecibo.
   SBAG appeals to NASA to continue considering the concerns and needs of the planetary science and planetary defense communities with respect to the capabilities of its radar assets. As discussed in Finding #7 from the SBAG 30 meeting, currently, only two radar facilities (Goldstone and Canberra) are partially supporting planetary science and planetary defense research. This is a major concern for post-discovery physical and dynamical characterization efforts for near-Earth objects (NEOs), as well as for current and near-future planetary missions. The interagency report, Cross-Disciplinary Deep Space Radar Needs Study, identified NASA as one of the important stakeholders and presented a notional reference architecture for future facilities. SBAG urges NASA to consider the recommendations of this report and follow up with solid plans to build, upgrade, and operate radar facilities with assistance from domestic and international partners.
6. Finding: SBAG strongly encourages NASA to create a Fact Sheet for the 2029 Apophis close Earth approach and distribute it broadly with appropriate graphics and other public-friendly materials.
   There is an immediate need for publicly accessible resources such that factual science leads the Apophis close approach narrative and that NASA stays ahead of conflicting messaging.
7. Finding: In the spirit of sustaining recent operational improvement activities and considering DSN’s longer-term needs, SBAG continues to advocate for increased DSN resources.
   SBAG is grateful to NASA for their many recent activities to improve DSN operations. NASA’s response to recent community concerns has been swift and substantial, with systematic improvements to cross-agency communications and the appointment of an agency-level Tiger Team. SBAG supports long-term planning and funding for DSN infrastructure renewal and technology developments, including operational deep space optical communications. DSN is an essential national resource for all deep space exploration, including missions to small bodies.
8. Finding: SBAG supports a sustained program of Planetary Defense missions and urges NASA to include a Planetary Defense funding line in its budget requests sufficient to support such a program as recommended by the Decadal Survey.
   The budget request "sand chart" for NASA Planetary Science for the coming decade shows a falloff in planned funding requests for Planetary Defense after the launch of Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor. Future budgets would support operations for NEO Surveyor and other activities but are not sufficient to begin future missions that test and demonstrate Planetary Defense capabilities. The presented plan for future funding requests is in contrast with the Recommendation from the Decadal Survey: "NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office should be funded at adequate levels to conduct a robust program of necessary planetary defense-related activities, technologies, and demonstration missions launching on a regular cadence." While SBAG recognizes that appropriations may not necessarily match the requests, it is important to ensure the requested funding line maintains programmatic balance and hews closely to the Decadal survey.
9. Finding: SBAG encourages NASA to continue supporting ground-based observations and observing programs that provide critical follow-up and characterization of small bodies, which expand foundational knowledge provided by discovery assets.
   For example, initial characterizations (albedo, shape, etc.) of small bodies by ground-based observations allow for efficient determination of mission targets and increased knowledge of potential planetary defense threats. This is of particular relevance as existing surveys discover new objects on a near-daily basis, and forthcoming next-generation facilities such as the Rubin Observatory, Roman Space Telescope, and NEO Surveyor will expand the census of small bodies by nearly an order of magnitude. As such, SBAG strongly encourages NASA to (i) continue its existing support of facilities like IRTF and Keck Observatory, (ii) ensure robust availability of support for Research and Analysis (R&A) programs focused on ground-based observing, and (iii) continue to provide opportunities for ground-based observers to contribute to the operational and scientific success of NASA efforts such as the recently completed and highly successful DART mission, the currently flying Lucy mission, and upcoming Hera mission.
10. Finding: SBAG commends NASA for the recent Participating Scientist Program (PSP) selections for the Hera mission and the announcement of opportunity for the Lucy mission.
    These programs enhance international collaboration and increase scientific engagement in small-body exploration. SBAG encourages NASA to continue proactively supporting and expanding PSP opportunities for future domestic and international missions, ensuring an equitable and competitive process to enable broader participation and maximize scientific return.
11. Finding: SBAG congratulates the entire team of NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) space telescope, which has diligently searched for asteroids and comets, including those that could impact the Earth, since it was first launched as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission in December 2009. SBAG also appreciates the continued support from NASA HQ that has permitted NEOWISE to be such a successful mission.
    NEOWISE has provided a major contribution towards the fulfillment of the George E. Brown Congressional goal of discovering 90% of the near-Earth asteroid (NEA) population larger than 140 meters in size. NEOWISE has provided new techniques to find and characterize NEOs hidden in vast quantities of its infrared survey data for a significant fraction of that NEA population and has provided a critical space-based planetary defense observing capability over the past 14 years.
12. Finding: SBAG encourages NASA to offer additional opportunities for community members to learn about and provide feedback on the expected merger in ROSES 2025 of NASA's Emerging Worlds, Solar System Workings, and Solar System Observations Research and Analysis (R&A) programs and additionally encourages members of the community to familiarize themselves with the details of the program merger.
    In particular, SBAG encourages interested community members who did not attend the NASA town hall in May 2024 to review posted slides at https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/for-posting-may-2024-town-hall-for-planetary-ra.pdf for details about the rationale for this merger and answers to commonly asked questions. Meanwhile, given that the program merger was a secondary topic at the aforementioned town hall and community members may not have attended, SBAG encourages NASA to offer additional open community sessions dedicated to the program merger to ensure that as many community perspectives and concerns as possible can be heard and potentially addressed well in advance of the release of ROSES 2025.