Development of the US Extremely Large Telescope Program

美国极大望远镜计划的发展

• 批准号: 2013059
• 负责人: Charles Mattias Mountain
• 金额: $ 2334万
• 依托单位: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2013059&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Development; US; Extremely; Large; Telescope

The United States Extremely Large Telescope Program (U.S. ELT Program) will coordinate the activities of three organizations, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), and NSF’s National Optical-infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NSF’s NOIRLab). Together these three organizations aim to provide access to two new and very large telescopes, the GMT and TMT, for all U.S. astronomers. This award will fund planning for this activity; it will not fund any construction activities. It will also support important development work for the GMT (no funding is being provided to the TMT). The award will help the GMT advance state-of-the-art technologies that will make sure the telescope, once built, produces the sharpest images possible. Important components of a prototype for one of the seven secondary mirrors and a system to support and maintain the shape of each of the seven 8-meter primary mirrors will be developed; a new “adaptive optics” systems will also be tested. At the same time, NSF’s NOIRLab will develop plans that would allow astronomers to easily use both telescopes and quickly access their observations. Young scientists and engineers will be involved in this work. Together, the GMT and TMT will allow scientists from diverse backgrounds to observe the entire sky as never before.The TMT and GMT are targeted to be built in the mid-to-late 2020s, provided that all approvals are in place. Under this Award, NSF’s NOIRLab will develop a plan to collaborate with both the GMT and TMT to secure observing time on both telescopes for the broader US community if the telescopes are ultimately constructed. The plan would enable transformational research using these two next-generation, ground-based, optical-infrared observing platforms. If constructed, GMT and TMT would be two of only three 20 to 40-meter class Extremely Large Telescopes in existence in the 2030s. The collaboration, dubbed the “US ELT Program,” would permit scientists anywhere in the US to lead projects that require large allocations of observing time on the GMT and TMT, taking advantage of their full sky coverage and diverse instrumentation and observing capabilities. The TMT and GMT would open a new discovery space in astronomy and astrophysics, enabling forefront research in fields ranging from the search for biomarkers in the atmosphere of planets around other stars to studies of the first light in the universe. The US ELT Program Office, which would, if approved, be based at NSF’s NOIRLab in Tucson, would be responsible for the scientific and programmatic coordination of this joint endeavor and for representation and advocacy of US community interests in the GMT and TMT. The US ELT Program would, thus, give a voice to US astronomers early in the development of these two very complex telescope systems. The award will also support development work on a number of important projects key to the success of the GMT. Deliverables for the GMT component of this proposal specifically target a reduction in cost and schedule risks associated with telescope system image quality. These include the development of laboratory testbeds for adaptive optics and the prototyping and testing of active and adaptive optics components and subsystems. These activities will ensure immediate and high scientific impact if GMT were commissioned later this decade. The US ELT Program presents an outstanding opportunity to engage diverse scientific and educational communities. Early career scientists and engineers from institutions distributed throughout the US would participate in this work. The experience would help them further develop and strengthen technical skills that would make them more valuable members of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workforce. In the longer term, the US-ELT Program partnership has the potential to foster large scientific collaborations that would lead to increased involvement by a more diverse community of scientists from a broad range of institutions and demographic groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

美国极大望远镜计划（U.S. ELT计划）将协调三个组织的活动，即巨型麦哲伦望远镜（GMT）、三十米望远镜（TMT）和NSF的国家光学红外天文学研究实验室（NSF的NOIRLab）。这三个组织共同致力于为所有美国天文学家提供两台新型超大型望远镜 GMT 和 TMT。该奖项将为规划提供资金。该奖项不会资助任何建设活动（不会向 TMT 提供资金）。确保望远镜建成后能够产生尽可能清晰的图像，将开发新的七个副镜之一的原型以及用于支撑和保持七个 8 米主镜形状的系统； “自适应光学”系统将与此同时，NSF 的 NOIRLab 将制定计划，使天文学家能够轻松使用这两台望远镜并快速获得他们的观测结果，GMT 和 TMT 将让科学家们共同参与这项工作。多样化的背景以前所未有的方式观察整个天空。TMT 和 GMT 的目标是在 2020 年代中后期建成，前提是 NSF 的所有批准均已到位。 NOIRLab 将制定一项计划，与 GMT 和 TMT 合作，确保这两台望远镜能够为更广泛的美国社区提供观测时间，如果该计划最终建成，将能够使用这两台下一代地面光学望远镜进行变革性研究。 - 红外观测平台。如果建成，GMT 和 TMT 将成为 2030 年代仅有的三台 20 至 40 米级极大望远镜中的两个，被称为“美国 ELT”。计划”将允许美国任何地方的科学家领导需要在 GMT 和 TMT 上分配大量观测时间的项目，利用他们的全天空覆盖和多样化的仪器和观测能力。 TMT 和 GMT 将开辟一个新的发现空间。美国 ELT 项目办公室将在天文学和天体物理学领域开展前沿研究，从寻找其他恒星周围行星大气中的生物标记到研究宇宙中的第一束光，如果获得批准，该办公室将设在美国国家科学基金会 (NSF) 内。位于图森的 NOIRLab 将负责这项联合努力的科学和计划协调，并代表和倡导美国社区在 GMT 和 TMT 中的利益，因此，美国 ELT 计划将在发展初期为美国天文学家提供发言权。该奖项还将支持对 GMT 成功至关重要的许多重要项目的开发工作，该提案的 GMT 部分的交付成果特别旨在降低与望远镜相关的成本和进度风险。这些活动包括自适应光学实验室测试台的开发以及主动和自适应光学组件和子系统的原型设计和测试，如果 GMT 在本十年晚些时候投入使用，这些活动将确保产生直接和高度的科学影响。来自美国各地机构的早期职业科学家和工程师将有机会参与这项工作，这些经验将帮助他们进一步发展和加强技术技能，使他们成为更有价值的科学成员。技术、工程和数学从长远来看，US-ELT 计划伙伴关系有潜力促进大型科学合作，从而促进来自广泛机构和人口群体的更加多元化的科学家群体的参与。该奖项反映了通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。