Dear SBAG Participants,
We need to write the text to go with the outline of theScience Issues section of the SBAG Roadmap before mid-December if we expect tohave time to circulate a first draft through the group for comments andsuggested changes. I have attached my strategy for presenting theseissues (as presented at the last SBAG workshop) and am asking for volunteers towrite sections. I have organized the section as a matrix of Bodies vs.Issues, but what that really means is that for each type of object in our listwe will try to address each of the 5 science issues listed – even if itmeans noting that study of that particular type of body is not relevant to thatparticular science issue. This will allow someone to easily search our documentby issue as well as by type of object. The list of bodies that require ashort writeup (and a willing volunteer) are the following:
• Meteorites,IDPs and Returned Samples
• Shortand Long-Period Comets
• NearEarth Objects (Apollos, Atens & Amors)
• MainBelt Asteroids (and comets)
• Phobosand Demos
• Large,Icy Satellites of the Giant Planets
• IrregularSatellites of the Giant Planets
• Centaursand Trans Neptunian Objects
• Plutoand Kuiper-Belt Objects
• SmallBodies in the Oort Cloud
The list of topical issues that I hope to see addressed ineach writeup are:
• SolarSystem Origins: understanding the original composition of the nebula;the timing of events such as planet formation, differentiation and coreformation and the chemical and isotopic evolution of the system withtime.
• SolarSystem Dynamics : understanding nebular collapse and transport;planetesimal accretion, migration and mutual interactions; evolution of thesolar system through time and the cratering history of the solar system.
• CurrentState of the Solar System : What is the size distribution and chemicalcomposition of small bodies in the Solar System? How does this compare toextra-solar systems?
• ISRU: What resources might be available to support human and robotic exploration ofand human expansion into the solar system?
• Hazards: What is the internal structure and chemical composition of objects thatmight become an impact hazard to life on Earth?