NASA Laboratory Astrophysics Workshop, NASA Ames, May 1 - 3, 2002

Charter

Purpose of workshop:

The purpose of this workshop, sponsored by NASA's Office of Space Science (OSS), is to discuss the current state of knowledge in the interdisciplinary field of Laboratory Astrophysics and to assess the needs in regards to current and future NASA's space missions.

The workshop will be organized along the Science Themes defined by NASA's Office of Space Science (OSS), for its strategic planning efforts:

In addition to these four themes, the workshop will also include connections to Astrobiology, the study of life in the Universe.

Agenda:

The workshop will feature invited talks by members of the scientific community representing data users. The invited speakers will provide a broad overview of the needs in the field. The workshop will also feature shorter talks and posters by data producers (NASA's Space Science programs grantees and others). Breakout sessions chaired by the Scientific Organizing Committee members will produce a report on the status of the Laboratory Astrophysics programs supported by NASA and whether these programs meet NASA's needs for the future.

Target audience:

The Workshop will provide a forum for the scientific community to discuss the latest developments in the field of Laboratory Astrophysics.

Specific Goals:

The workshop will:

  1. Review the current state-of-the art in laboratory astrophysics
  2. Review current and future space missions
  3. Assess how well the current programs are supporting NASA’s space missions
  4. Identify science priorities in support of NASA’s space missions
  5. Provide input to the NASA Astronomy and Physics Division for it’s strategic planning efforts
  6. Generate and distribute through the NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) science proceedings that will be a reference for the community