Space Astronomy – The Next Thirty Years

Extract

I have a strong feeling that I am not the right person to give this lecture. Many of you will have noticed that recently the National Academy of Sciences has published a report entitled “Space Science in the 21st Century – Imperatives for the Decades 1995 – 2015”. This assessment was requested by NASA and was headed by the Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences. This is a very large and ambitious report and is essential reading for those who wish to have a broad vision of what might become possible in the coming decades. As a result, this brief review will make no attempt to be complete but will simply raise some points which may contribute to the discussion of future directions of space astronomy. I would emphasise that these are personal views.