Scientific Evaluation and Future Priorities of ESA's ELIPS Programme: Report from the Sasbachwalden Workshops, February 2008

摘要

In May 2007 the ESA Directorate for Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration (D-HME) asked the ESF's European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) to organize a broad scientific consultation of the users' community in the preparation of the next ESA Ministerial Council (November 2008), in order to evaluate the achievements and define future strategic and scientific priorities of ESA's programme in life and physical sciences in space (ELIPS). This exercise would constitute the follow-on of the assessment studies done at the Bischenberg, Obernai and Evian workshops, which the ESF and ESSC organised in 2000 and 2004/05 to structure and assess the value of ESA's ELIPS programme. The evaluation would look at: the achievements of the ELIPS programme between 2004 and 2007; the expectations and requirements of the users' community with regard to its future and in particular the validity of the Cornerstone scheme which was updated in 2005; and the scientific perspectives of the Exploration programme which are relevant to the ELIPS programme. A Steering Committee, comprising scientists in life and physical sciences, was therefore formally established in October 2007 and met in Brussels on 16 January 2008 to define the format of the evaluation workshop and agree on the scientists to be invited to this workshop. ESA's ELIPS research plan is split in two main categories: life sciences and physical sciences. The workshop itself was thus also split in two parts, taking place consecutively during the same week, with two 2-day periods dealing separately with physical sciences and with life sciences. Both disciplinary workshops gathered some 80 persons each. A synthesis meeting consisting of the rapporteurs of the various sessions of the two workshops plus a limited number of selected observers then met on 14 April 2008 to finalise and approve the contents of the evaluation report. Following ESF and ESSC rules the report was then independently peer-reviewed. This is the final report to ESA, European national space agencies and the space science community.