Evaluation of the InSightSeers and DART Boarders mission observer programmes

Abstract

Encouraging diversity in planetary science requires making a particular effort to bring a broader range of people onto the mission teams that are the backbone of the field. Observer programmes, which offer early-career researchers the chance to embed within a mission team during a science meeting, are one way of doing this. Here we present a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of two observer programmes: InSightSeers and DART Boarders, linked respectively to the InSight and the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) missions, using a mixture of one-group pre-test/post-test and one-group post-test only evaluation methods, with a total of 56 participants. We find substantial educational value added to participants from both programmes, with particular strengths being the effectiveness of these programmes at providing an introduction to mission teams and international collaborations. This work demonstrates that mission observer programmes can be an effective way of exposing early-career researchers to planetary science missions. Various observer programmes, in which early-career scientists participate in science meetings for NASA’s planetary missions, have been set up in recent years. This Perspective analyses the effectiveness of two such programmes: InSightSeers and DART Boarders.