April 3, 2008, 3pm EDT

Present: Borrill, Gunderson, Hanany, Kogut, Meyer, Miller

Shaul reviews input from Chuck Bennet about process for selection of decadal panel. Eric reports that the authorization to the National Academy to start the process is still being considered by NASA officials.

Al points out that sometime in the future there may be a MIDEX opportunity. The discussions within the PPPDT about a future larger mission should not be perceived as limiting people from proposing for such an opportunity.

People comment that a midex can probably do some of the ultimate polarization science but not all. By covering only part of the pie it will reduce the likelihood of ever doing the full pie. Another point of view is that such a midex might involve only a slice of the CMB community not most of it, as represented by the PPPDT.

Shaul reports that according to Eric, there is no imminent midex mission on NASA's horizon. So the discussion is hypothetical for the next ~1,2 years (at least). It is hard to anticipate what will happen afterwards.

The PPPDT's role is to unite the community toward a future satellite and to promote the project, but not necessarily to ensure that a future satellite will include the entire community.

There is consensus that the PPPDT should not be perceived as limiting the possibilities of members of the community, but also that there is nothing we should do about a midex option now.

A discussion of Jamie's formulation of the strategy where we propose the entire slew of science that can be done with CMBPol and let future developments adjust specific future designs.

The problem is that the cost of such a mission might be prohibitive, perhaps $2B. Only LISA's cost estimates are near that level and there is a broad perception that science return from LISA is on a class of its own. The key question then becomes whether a ~$1B satellite can be designed with a resolution of ~10' and is that resolution sufficient to give most of the small scale science. A related question is whether astrophysicists who are interested in galactic dust and magnetic fields would sign on to a mission with such a resolution.

How to proceed: Shaul will draft a statement in regard to a satellite strategy that will be debated by the PPPDT. The goal is to arrive at a consensus behind which we can unite large segments of the community. Shaul will circulate before the telecon next week.