Budget Woes Forcing Astronomy Program Cutbacks
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This week at the 218th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, NASA Astrophysics Division director Jon Morse and James Ulvestad, NSF division director for astronomical sciences discussed how budget cuts are creating tough decisions regarding projects outlined in last years 2010 Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Full-scale model of JWST on the lawn at Goddard Space Flight Center. Image Credit: NASA
Given budgets that will be either flat or reduced, many agencies will be forced to discontinue existing projects in order to fund new ones. In the May 23rd town hall discussion, Morse said, “We can turn off the old to enable the new, That’s where we are from a budgetary standpoint.” Many researchers are intimately familiar with the budget woes NASA is facing due to the James Webb Space Telescope’s cost overrruns and delays, which have caused other projects to be postponed, or completely cancelled.
During a second town hall meeting on May 24th, Ulvestad discussed the impact budget cuts will have on ground-based projects, such as the The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gemini Observatory, and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Ulvestad mentioned, “We really can’t do any of the decadal survey with a flat budget”. Ulvestad also discussed the current costs of NSF astronomy facilities, which currently over a billion dollars and is expected to reach two billion by the end of the decade once the LSST is completed. Given the expected costs and either flat or reduced budgets Ulvestad mentions “There would basically be no money left over for grants.â€
One poignant quote by Ulvestad is as follows: “We live in the environment of the U.S. budget deficit, You can’t say astronomy doesn’t live there.” Ulvestad’s statement underscores the challenges many science agencies will be facing over the next decade, or longer.
Gemini South Telescope – Image Credit: Gemini Observatory
“The time for difficult decisions is here.” said Tom Statler, a program director in the NSF’s division of astronomical sciences. Statler also mentioned that the NSF will be creating a panel of researchers to advise on where budget cuts can be made, adding, “These recommendations may include, and this is the bad part: closures, divestments and terminations of programs, We know that this is going to be difficult, and we know that this is going to affect the careers of a lot of people.”
During the May 24th town hall meeting Ulvestad also discussed the decadal survey’s recommendations to consolidate the Gemini project with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Given the Gemini Observatory is an international project and the NOAO is a United States entity, there are complications that make a consolidation difficult. Ulvestad also discussed the fact that Gemini Observatory governance is the problem he spends most time on at the moment.
Ulvestad also acknowledged an agency plan to change management of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico from Cornell University, to a consortium led by SRI International. “There hasn’t been a hand-off of this type in astronomy before,†Ulvestad said. While declining to discuss Cornell’s bid, Ulvestad did mention that SRI International’s bid had been selected because the bid included significant involvement by Puerto Rican institutions.
Source(s): AAS: NASA Town Hall Meeting, AAS: NSF Town Hall Meeting
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:07
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/05/27/budget-woes-forcing-astronomy-program-cutbacks/
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