NASA Astrophysics Division Research and Analysis Program Statistics for the Period 2001-2009

TL;DR

This paper provides a quantitative overview of NASA's Astrophysics Division Research and Analysis Program from 2001 to 2009, analyzing proposal trends, success rates, and funding distributions to inform future program discussions.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive statistical analysis of proposal and funding data for NASA's astrophysics research program over a nine-year period.

Findings

Proposal success rates varied over time.

Funding distribution across science areas showed trends.

Proposal submission characteristics evolved from 2001 to 2009.

Abstract

I describe the various elements of the NASA Science Mission Directorate's Astrophysics Division Research and Analysis Program and provide quantitative descriptions for factors such as proposal submission characteristics, proposal success rates, distribution of science areas for selected proposals, as well as funding distributions for the various program elements. I examine the variation of these factors with time to explore possible trends. The measures described here can be used as starting points for future discussions about issues related to balance within the astronomy and astrophysics research and analysis program.