Context
The Hubble Second Decade Committee was constituted to consider how to maximise the science return from Hubble during its second decade of operations. The committee produced two written reports: the first emphasised the scientific impact of large programs, advocated for an allocation of 20-30% of Hubble observing time in each cycle to such large programs, and recommended the establishment of Treasury programs that could enable multiple scientific objectives; the second report discussed the future of archival research and advocated the enhancement of the Hubble Archive. Finally, the Second Decade Committee also advocated for the addition of a Near-Infrared Channel to Wide-Field Camera 3, then under consideration for a future Hubble servicing mission.
Charter/origin
To optimize the scientific return from the HST in its remaining years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) asked the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) to develop a strategic plan for the future of the telescope. In response, STScI formed theSecond Decade Committee, a group of scientists drawn from the astronomy community. The committee’s work stemmed from NASA’s 1997 decision to extend the Hubble mission until 2010 with low-cost operations. This extension means that the HST would operate in parallel with its successor, the Next Generation Space Telescope (later the James Webb Space Telescope), planned (at that time) for launch in 2007.
The second decade of HST provides an opportunity to stimulate new ways of using the facility for projects with lasting scientific impact. The Second Decade Committee’s mission was to help the HST program take advantage of this opportunity.
(adapted from A Review of Reports on Selected Large Federal Science Facilities )
Constituted
1998
Membership
Chair: Robert Brown
Members: Steffi Baum, James Beletic, Tim de Zeeuw, Larry Esposito, Michael Fall, Robert Fosbury, Richard Green, Timothy Heckman, Garth Illingworth, Shrinivas Kulkarni, Henny Lamers, Mario Mateo, John Mather, Claire Max, Donald McCarthy, Richard McCray, Keith Noll, Ethan Schreier, Charles Steidel, John Stocke
Reports
Published in 2000
Outcomes
Specific orbit allocation for large programs, instituted in Cycle 9 (proposal deadline, September 10 1999; cycle start, July 1 2000). This change was driven in parallel by STScI staff beyond the committee members (see Meg Urry's article in the 12/1999 STScI Newsletter).
Treasury programs, instituted in Cycle 11 (proposal deadline, Sept 7 2001; cycle start, July 1 2002)
AR Legacy programs, also instituted in Cycle 11
