The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed Cornell University’s management contract for the operation of Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest and most-sensitive single-dish radio/radar telescope. A Puerto Rican landmark, the huge telescope is famous as the locale for several movies, including the James Bond film “GoldenEye” and the movie version of Carl Sagan’s Contact.
The contract with the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) at Cornell—which runs until March 31, 2010—is for approximately $70 million, making the NAIC the second-largest federally funded research center on campus. NAIC has managed the observatory for the past 34 years.
The award was approved March 30 by the National Science Board, which establishes NSF policies, following a 15-month-long competition for management of the observatory with the Universities Space Research Association, created by the National Academy of Science in 1969 and largely funded by NASA.
“We are very pleased with the confidence that the NSF has shown in supporting Cornell’s proposal to continue its management of NAIC, and we welcome the challenge to develop further the scientific research capabilities at the observatory,” said Bob Brown, director of NAIC, who spends 25 percent of his time at Arecibo.
NAIC was created by Cornell in 1971 as a national center for radio science to operate and manage the Arecibo Observatory for the NSF. The 1,000-foot-diameter (305 meters) Arecibo telescope was completed in 1963 at the initiative of Cornell electrical engineering professor William E. Gordon.
The center provides access to state-of-the-art observing facilities at Arecibo for scientists in radio astronomy, solar system radar astronomy, and atmospheric studies.
Operating with 11 people at Cornell in Ithaca and a staff of 136 at the observatory in Puerto Rico, NAIC administers observing time to more than 200 telescope users annually in the astronomy and aeronomy academic communities.
—David Brand, Cornell News Service
