Science

NASA’s FY 2026 Annual Performance Plan and Evaluation Plan (APPEP) located at URL https://www.nasa.gov/ocfo/performance-report/ describes the Agency’s Performance Goals, including the underlying milestone targets, consistent with the FY 2025 Operating Plan and FY 2026 President’s Budget Request. As noted on page 2 of the APPEP, “NASA will develop a new mission statement and make more significant changes to its performance framework as part of the forthcoming 2026 NASA Strategic Plan.” Historically, The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) pursues NASA's strategic objectives, particularly Strategic Goal 1: “Expand Human Knowledge through new Scientific Discoveries”, using aircraft, balloon, and spaceflight programs to enable the execution of both remote-sensing and in-situ investigations. Investigations in Earth orbit, as well as to or even beyond objects in the Solar System, and through ground-based research activities that directly support these space missions. SMD also supports basic and applied research and technology in order to understand naturally occurring space and Earth phenomena, human-induced changes in the Earth system, and to develop Earth and space science-related technologies. In March 2022 NASA released a new Strategic Plan. Per that 2022 plan SMD’s Assistance Listing aligns to this Goal Statement: “NASA’s enduring purpose is scientific discovery and exploration for the benefit of the United States and all of humanity. NASA seeks to discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere, and protect and improve life on Earth and in space. Finding answers to these profound science questions requires support for national priorities in science and exploration, enhancing new opportunities for cross-disciplinary science, and expanding the societal benefits of our science programs. It also requires continued progress on the scientific priorities, including those identified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine through their decadal surveys.” SMD uses NASA's Strategic Goals and Objectives and the high-level objectives that flow from them as the performance component to its research grant program notices of funding opportunity. The high-level objectives are derived from “Decadal Surveys” created by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) every ten years and reviewed every five years. NASEM reports summarize the state of the performance for SMD’s science awards. Decadal Surveys inform the NASA’s strategic and SMD science plan and allow grant programs to be kept up to date rather than be completely reliant on agency produced program goals and objectives and performance measures. SMD’s research awardees individually set appropriate, NASA-relevant project level objectives, goals and measures.