The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has selected Dr. Claude R. Canizares, director of the Center for Space Research and head of the Astrophysics Division of the Department of Physics, as the new chairman of NASA's Space Science and Applications Advisory Committee.
The committee, a standing committee of the NASA Advisory Council, consults with and advises NASA on its plans, priorities, objectives and strategies to accomplish its multifaceted space-science programs.
Dr. Canizares will also serve on the Advisory Council, which advises the Administrator of NASA.
Dr. Lennard A. Fisk, associate administrator of NASA's Office of Space Science and Applications, said the work of the committee Professor Canizares now heads would be particularly important over the coming months as NASA looks at restructuring parts of its program. "To preserve a strong set of space-science missions in a tight budgetary environment, we need to work especially closely with members of the scientific community," he said.
The committee reviews NASA's plans in the areas of astrophysics, solar-system exploration, solar and space physics, earth science, microgravity research and life sciences.
Dr. Canizares has served on numerous NASA advisory committees and as a member of the National Academy of Science's Astronomy and Astrophysics Survey Committee.
Dr. Joseph F. Shea, adjunct professor of aeronautics and astronautics, also is a member of NASA's Advisory Council and chairs the Space Systems and Technology Advisory Committee.
A version of this article appeared in the September 16, 1992 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 37, Number 5).
