==== Telecon Notes ====

Oct. 10, 2008, 3pm EDT 

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

  * Shaul reports that members of the PPPDT have been nominated for membership in the technical panels of the Decadal Survey.

  * Discussion of notes from telecon with the Astrophysics SubCommittee of the NASA Advisory Committee. Notes originated from Mike Werner and distributed by Charles Lawrence. 

"JDEM will be reviewed and prioritized". The interpretation is that the decadal panel will review all missions that are not 'under development'. The term 'under development' referes to missions that are at or beyond phase C. JDEM has not yet started phase A. Implication - the order and prioritization set by BEPAC is not assumed as a baseline for the decadal survey. 

Timeline: We would like to have the bulk of our material by the mid-January 2009. 

We are expected to make our own case to the decadal panel. PPPDT should coordinate approach and submission of material to the panel. 

  * Some more discussion about the best approach to take in the report. Some of these issues have been discussed before. and have been reiterated again: Should we acknowledge formally in the report that there will not be a mission this decade, and that we are after technology development funding, or should we advocate as strongly for a mission as soon as feasible. 

Eric says that a good outcome is if we are recommended for technology funding. 

Steve raises the option of conditioning the beginning of a satellite program on first seeing results from sub-orbital experiments. Potential gain - we appear reasonable by accepting as fact that there will not be a mission that has a potential for null signal; Potential loss - in the presence of substantial uncertainties about what will happen with the next 5 years both in the experimental and theoretical front, we should not condition the mission on anything. Rather we should push forward and be ready to start a program in the mid-decade. Let a selection committee decide then whether CMBPol should proceed or wait.