Enduring Quests-Daring Visions (NASA Astrophysics in the Next Three Decades)

TL;DR

This paper presents a 30-year NASA astrophysics roadmap outlining a phased approach to address fundamental questions about the universe, leveraging past achievements and future technological innovations.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, science-driven vision divided into three eras, guiding future missions and technological developments in NASA astrophysics over three decades.

Findings

Defines three mission eras: Near-Term, Formative, and Visionary.

Outlines strategic goals for each era to advance understanding of the universe.

Emphasizes the importance of ambitious, innovative missions for future discoveries.

Abstract

The past three decades have seen prodigious advances in astronomy and astrophysics. Beginning with the exploration of our solar system and continuing through the pioneering Explorers and Great Observatories of today, NASA missions have made essential contributions to these advances. This roadmap presents a science-driven 30-year vision for the future of NASA Astrophysics that builds on these achievements to address some of our most ancient and fundamental questions: Are we alone? How did we get here? How does the universe work? The search for the answers constitutes the Enduring Quests of this roadmap. Building on the priorities identified in New Worlds, New Horizons, we envision future science investigations laid out in three Eras, with each representing roughly ten years of mission development in a given field. The immediate Near-Term Era covers ongoing NASA-led activities and planned missions. This will be followed by the missions of the Formative Era, which will build on the preceding technological developments and scientific discoveries, with remarkable capabilities that will enable breakthroughs across the landscape of astrophysics. These will then lay the foundations for the Daring Visions of the Visionary Era: missions and explorations that will take us deep into unchartered scientific and technological terrain. The roadmap outlined herein will require the vision and wherewithal to undertake highly ambitious programs over the next 30 years. The discoveries that emerge will inspire generations of citizen scientists young and old, and inspire all of humanity for decades to come.