{"paper":{"title":"Foundations for Discovery: A Coordinated Fleet Approach to NASA Astrophysics","license":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/","headline":"NASA astrophysics should pursue a coordinated fleet of one-to-two billion dollar missions to complement its flagship observatories.","cross_cats":[],"primary_cat":"astro-ph.IM","authors_text":"Albert Y. Shih, Allison A. Youngblood, Amy A. Simon, Avi M. Mandell, Brian Humensky, Conor A. Nixon, David T. Leisawitz, Elisa V. Quintana, Francesca M. Civano, Georgia A. de Nolfo, Jacob Slutsky, Jennifer J. Wiseman, Jeremy S. Perkins, Joshua E. Schlieder, Judith L. Racusin, Knicole D. Col\\'on, Regina Caputo, Tonia M. Venters","submitted_at":"2026-05-04T17:51:02Z","abstract_excerpt":"This white paper presents an analysis of Astro2020 science priorities and NASA's future astrophysics mission architecture, advocating for a coordinated fleet of \\$1--2B missions, smaller than typical Flagship observatories, but strategically designed to complement them, i.e. a ``Next Generation Great Observatories\" program. The study addresses opportunities in current mission planning, design, and implementation and proposes a strategic approach to maximize scientific return on investment while strengthening partnerships across NASA divisions, other government organizations, universities, and "},"claims":{"count":4,"items":[{"kind":"strongest_claim","text":"advocating for a coordinated fleet of $1--2B missions, smaller than typical Flagship observatories, but strategically designed to complement them, i.e. a 'Next Generation Great Observatories' program","source":"verdict.strongest_claim","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C1","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"weakest_assumption","text":"That smaller missions can be designed and operated to provide meaningful complementarity to Flagships while achieving the stated scientific priorities, which rests on unstated details of technical feasibility, cost control, and inter-division coordination.","source":"verdict.weakest_assumption","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C2","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"one_line_summary","text":"Proposes a fleet of mid-sized, coordinated NASA astrophysics missions to maximize scientific return by complementing Flagship observatories.","source":"verdict.one_line_summary","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C3","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"headline","text":"NASA astrophysics should pursue a coordinated fleet of one-to-two billion dollar missions to complement its flagship observatories.","source":"verdict.pith_extraction.headline","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C4","attestation":"unclaimed"}],"snapshot_sha256":"f1fb3be946ce8f5a6ba7ddf3d11b4fa02e9e623e9b341c5cfbcfba0096e74db7"},"source":{"id":"2605.02880","kind":"arxiv","version":2},"verdict":{"id":"b1e3da1c-897e-4313-aaba-3b9e9c574090","model_set":{"reader":"grok-4.3"},"created_at":"2026-05-08T17:10:15.828703Z","strongest_claim":"advocating for a coordinated fleet of $1--2B missions, smaller than typical Flagship observatories, but strategically designed to complement them, i.e. a 'Next Generation Great Observatories' program","one_line_summary":"Proposes a fleet of mid-sized, coordinated NASA astrophysics missions to maximize scientific return by complementing Flagship observatories.","pipeline_version":"pith-pipeline@v0.9.0","weakest_assumption":"That smaller missions can be designed and operated to provide meaningful complementarity to Flagships while achieving the stated scientific priorities, which rests on unstated details of technical feasibility, cost control, and inter-division coordination.","pith_extraction_headline":"NASA astrophysics should pursue a coordinated fleet of one-to-two billion dollar missions to complement its flagship observatories."},"integrity":{"clean":false,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":1,"by_detector":{"doi_compliance":{"total":1,"advisory":0,"critical":1,"informational":0}},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2605.02880/integrity.json","findings":[{"note":"DOI '10.17226/248' as printed in the bibliography is syntactically invalid and cannot resolve.","detector":"doi_compliance","severity":"critical","ref_index":6,"audited_at":"2026-05-19T15:52:28.594044Z","detected_doi":"10.17226/248","finding_type":"broken_identifier","verdict_class":"incontrovertible","detected_arxiv_id":null}],"available":true,"detectors_run":[{"name":"ai_meta_artifact","ran_at":"2026-05-20T14:40:12.186624Z","status":"completed","version":"1.0.0","findings_count":0},{"name":"doi_title_agreement","ran_at":"2026-05-20T02:01:22.395870Z","status":"completed","version":"1.0.0","findings_count":0},{"name":"doi_compliance","ran_at":"2026-05-19T15:52:28.594044Z","status":"completed","version":"1.0.0","findings_count":1}],"snapshot_sha256":"4c1f18e45f14ff43c96963709f45607f7ef6ae2b35665e2ee05c35c3c442392c"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}