Report Series: Committee on Solar and Space Physics: Agile Responses to Short-Notice Rideshare Opportunities for the NASA Heliophysics Division explores the kinds of solar and space science that would be enabled by an agile response to rideshare opportunities. This report then explores the types of payloads that are suited to these opportunities and the development and implementation of a new program that would allow agile responses to future short-notice rideshare opportunities.

The newly constituted Committee on Solar and Space Physics (CSSP) has been tasked with monitoring the progress of recommendations from the 2013 decadal survey Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. The committee held its first meeting as part of Space Science Week in Washington, D.C., on March 28-30, 2017. In advance of the meeting, and in response to discussions with the leadership of the Heliophysics Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Geospace Section of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Science, the committee identified the decadal survey's recommendation to create NASA-NSF heliophysics science centers (HSCs) as a timely topic for discussion. This report provides a set of options for NASA and NSF to consider for the creation of HSCs, including how to make the HSCs unique from other research elements and strategies for implementation.

In 2010, NASA and the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council to assemble a committee of experts to develop an integrated national strategy that would guide agency investments in solar and space physics for the years 2013-2022. That strategy, the result of nearly 2 years of effort by the survey committee, which worked with more than 100 scientists and engineers on eight supporting study panels, is presented in the 2013 publication, Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. This booklet, designed to be accessible to a broader audience of policymakers and the interested public, summarizes the content of that report.

The original charter of the Space Science Board was established in June 1958, three months before the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) opened its doors. The Space Science Board and its successor, the Space Studies Board (SSB), have provided expert external and independent scientific and programmatic advice to NASA on a continuous basis from NASA's inception until the present. The SSB has also provided such advice to other executive branch agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Defense, as well as to Congress. Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017 covers a message from the chair of the SSB, David N. Spergel. This report also explains the origins of the Space Science Board, how the Space Studies Board functions today, the SSB's collaboration with other National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine units, assures the quality of the SSB reports, acknowledges the audience and sponsors, and expresses the necessity to enhance the outreach and improve dissemination of SSB reports. This report will be relevant to a full range of government audiences in civilian space research - including NASA, NSF, NOAA, USGS, and the Department of Energy, as well members of the SSB, policy makers, and researchers.

The Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is tasked with monitoring the progress in implementation of the recommendations of the most recent planetary science decadal survey, Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022. Planetary science decadal surveys evaluate the state of the field, identify the most important scientific questions and themes, and prioritize missions and activities for the decade in question based on scientific merit, technical feasibility, and anticipated cost. The need for careful monitoring is underscored by the fact that some of the decadal survey's recommendations are triggered at specific programmatic decision points. Options for the Fifth New Frontiers Announcement of Opportunity addresses one such decision point. For each of the following four New Frontiers targets: Ocean Worlds, Trojan Tour and Rendezvous, Io Observer and Lunar Geophysical, this report summarizes changes in scientific understanding or external factors since the release of Vision and Voyages or its midterm review and considers whether those changes have been sufficiently substantial to warrant reconsideration of the four targets for inclusion in the New Frontiers 5 announcement of opportunity, scheduled for release in early 2022.

The National Research Council report Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth (NRC, 2015) reviewed the state of the science and provided high-level findings and recommendations regarding SG methods. This current study was tasked to update the 2015 assessment of the state of understanding and to provide recommendations for how to establish a research program, what to encompass in the research agenda, and what mechanisms to employ for governing this research.

The Space Studies Board (SSB) was established in 1958 to serve as the focus of the interests and responsibilities in space research for the National Academies. The SSB provides an independent, authoritative forum for information and advice on all aspects of space science and applications, and it serves as the focal point within the National Academies for activities on space research. It oversees advisory studies and program assessments, facilitates international research coordination, and promotes communications on space science and science policy between the research community, the federal government, and the interested public. The SSB also serves as the U.S. National Committee for the International Council for Science Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). This volume reviews the organization, activities, and reports of the SSB for the year 2010.