Royal Astronomical Society issues statement on the future of UK planetarysciences (Forwarded)

Royal Astronomical Society Press Notice
London, U.K.

CONTACTS

Dr Mike Hapgood
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilton
Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QX
Tel: +44 (0) 1235 446520
Fax: +44 (0) 1235 445848

Friday, 02 September 2005

RAS PN 05/39

ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY ISSUES STATEMENT ON THE FUTURE OF UK
PLANETARY SCIENCES

Contributed by Anita Heward

The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) has issued a statement calling for
continued growth in funding of planetary sciences in the UK and for more
universities to consider establishing planetary science departments.

The statement, which has been put together by leading Fellows of the
RAS, draws attention to the multidisciplinary nature of Solar System
studies in the 21st Century and highlights the need to support a broad
range of expertise, if the UK is to maintain its world leading status in
the field.

Dr Mike Hapgood, of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, who has led the
study said, "This is an important time in the worldwide development of
planetary science. Our ability to study the Solar System is advancing
rapidly -- in particular through a greater ability to fly scientific
instruments to other planets. The UK can make a leading contribution to
the international development of planetary science, as demonstrated by
the expertise developed in planetary landers, based on experience gained
from Beagle 2 and, more recently, the highly successful Huygens mission."

The RAS statement identifies ground-based telescopes as an area where
the UK planetary science community has not exploited opportunities to
the full and suggests that ground-based studies of the Solar System
should be given a higher priority and profile.

The potential of planetary missions to engage the public with science is
also highlighted in the statement. In view of the difficulties in
encouraging young people into science and engineering disciplines,
Vice-Chancellors and Provosts are encouraged to recognise both the
attractiveness of this area to students and the ability of UK
researchers to attract funding.

The statement acknowledges that extra government spending in
astronomical research in recent years has been necessary and welcome.
However, the report warns that funding must continue to increase if the
government wishes to capitalise on the interest generated by recent
missions such as Cassini Huygens, and highlights the importance of
independent scientific review in allocating extra spend.

The statement praises recent growth in the open debate of present and
future scientific paths and emphasises that this must continue if the
planetary science community is to maintain a focussed direction and make
the most efficient use of resources available.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The full statement can be read he Future of Planetary Sciences in the
UK.doc ,

http://www.ras.org.uk/images/stories...the%20UK .doc