Space-based science and the American Competitiveness Initiative

摘要

I discuss the process by which science contributes to the setting of government priorities, and how these priorities get translated into programs and budgets at the federal agencies that fund scientific research. New technologies are now opening exciting scientific opportunities across the biological and physical sciences. I review the motivations and goals of President Bush's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), the importance of societal relevance to federal investments in basic research, and the ACI's impacts on discovery-oriented disciplines within the physical sciences.