Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT)
(Source: Wikipedia.org )
On August 14, 2012, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Astronomical Sciences Portfolio Review Committee issued a report entitled: Advancing Astronomy in the Coming Decade; Opportunities and Challenges. In that report, the NSF recommended that two NRAO instruments, the GBT and the Very Long Based Array (VLBA) in New Mexico, be fully divested from the NSF Astronomy Division’s research facilities portfolio within five years.
At over sixteen million pounds and a construction cost of $95 million, the Green Bank Telescope, as it is known, is the largest, most capable fully steerable single dish radio telescope in the World. It is able to precisely point its 2.3 acres of light-collecting surface area anywhere within all but the southernmost 15 percent of the celestial sphere. An engineering and scientific marvel, it is unlikely to be recreated, much less surpassed, by American astronomy for decades to come.
More - Link >>> http://www.savethegbt.org/
Source: Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation.
On-Line Petition to ask National Science Foundation to continue funding of the Green Bank Telescope:
Link >>> http://www.change.org/petitions/national-science-foundation-continue-to-fund-the-green-bank-telescope
SmallerQuestions.org Blog Post: "Save That Great Big Thing: NSF Recommends 'Divesting' Green Bank Telescope:
Link >>> http://www.smallerquestions.org/blog/2012/8/22/save-that-great-big-thing-nsf-recommends-divesting-green-ban.html
National Radio Quiet Zone & Photos and Info Regarding 1960s & 1970s Summer Camp Field Trips to Green Bank Telescopes:
Link >>> http://johnbrashear.tripod.com/wlcr.html#greenbank
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Am I alone in believing that the Division of Astronomical Portfolio Review Committee based its recommendation on some sort of rational argument, why the GBT ought no longer to be funded?
ReplyDeleteAm I alone in believing that any action to the contrary ought to be based on a refutation of the rational argument, asserted, I presume, by the Committee?
Am i alone in believing that a group of scientists are best moved to join a cause, any cause, on the basis of some sort of rational argument, of which this Petition contains not one word?