The Beyond Einstein science questions and flagship missions have been consistently rated as among the most important priorities for this decade. In 2001, the National Academy of Sciences published the decadal survey establishing community consensus on the most important science questions and funding priorities for this decade. The report, "Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium" recommended both Constellation-X and LISA as high priorities.

This was followed by a 2003 National Academies report, "Eleven Science Questions for the New Century," (informally known as the Turner Report) that highlighted how the study of the very large (cosmology) and the very small (elementary particles) are coming together. Much of what is proposed in the Turner Report --- solving the mysteries of dark energy, dark matter, black holes, neutrinos, extra dimensions, cosmic particle accelerators --- is captured in NASA's Beyond Einstein program.

In 2004, the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy responded to the Turner Report with a pledge to combine efforts from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy. The subsequent report, "A 21st Century Frontier for Discovery: The Physics of the Universe" issued by the Interagency Working Group on the Physics of the Universe, again recommended the Beyond Einstein missions as high priorities.

Beyond Einstein began with funding in President Bush's 2004 budget and represents a combined effort of the particle physics and astronomy communities. NASA will search for answers in space, while the other agencies will focus mainly on ground-based and balloon-based instruments and observatories, although there's exciting camaraderie. Together, by the close of the next decade, we hope to have answers to some of the most profound questions of our day.