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NSF Support of Astronomy and the Gemini Project
Over the past century, astronomers have changed our understanding of
our origins and our place in the universe. In the United States, the unparalleled
discoveries of the last 50 years can be traced to a unique combination
of private, state, and federal investments. The National Science Foundation
(NSF), an independent federal agency, plays a leading role in supporting
U.S. ground-based astronomical research. NSF's investments, currently
totaling about $120 million a year, have provided the U.S. astronomical
community with the most powerful suite of research facilities in the world.
NSF supports three national astronomy centers -- the National Optical
Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory,
and National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center -- that operate large optical
and radio telescopes and radar facilities. Research in ground-based optical,
infrared, radio, and radar astronomy and solar physics is conducted in
facilities such as a 4-meter optical telescope on Arizona's Kitt Peak,
the 10 separate antennae of the Very-Long-Baseline Array spaced across
the country, and solar telescopes on Kitt Peak and on Sacramento Peak
in New Mexico. NSF also funds astronomical research in Antarctica and
more than 350 individual astronomical researchers.
With the Gemini optical/infrared telescope project, the National Science
Foundation initiated a partnership that will enable astronomers to answer
increasingly complex questions about the origins of planets and stars
and even of entire galaxies in the early universe. The project combines
the resources of multiple nations to develop expensive and highly sophisticated
facilities for carrying out large-scale research programs. And it combines
national perspectives and expertise, ensuring that the project will satisfy
the highest scientific priorities.
NSF plays a dual role in the Gemini project. As executive agency for
the international partnership, NSF is responsible for carrying out the
project on behalf of the seven participating nations. Through the U.S.
Gemini Program at NOAO, NSF supports access to Gemini by the U.S. astronomical
community. NSF has funded almost 50 percent of Gemini's $184-million capital
construction costs and will fund the same proportion of annual operating
costs. This public support ensures a broad range of U.S. scientists and
students will have access to these worldclass facilities. Public funds
will also support the sharing of Gemini images and data with astronomers
and students worldwide using sophisticated computer tools and the Next
Generation Internet.
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