[meteorite-list] Congress Gets Bill to Save Arecibo Observatory

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct07/Arecibo.bill.lg.html

Congress gets bill to save Arecibo Observatory

Oct. 3, 2007

By Lauren Gold
LG34 at cornell.edu
Cornell University

Congressmen Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico and Dana 
Rohrabacher of California have introduced 
legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives 
to ensure continued operation of the Arecibo 
Observatory in Puerto Rico. They want to 
guarantee future federal funding for the 
astronomical and radar-imaging facility.

"The bill is an appeal for the NSF [National 
Science Foundation] and NASA to get together and 
talk about how they might jointly work to 
maintain the science program at Arecibo," said 
Robert Brown, director of Cornell's National 
Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which manages 
the facility for the NSF. Brown, also an adjunct 
professor of astronomy at Cornell, said: "It 
doesn't ask for something new; rather, it seeks 
to maintain what goes on at the moment. The 
observatory is really an icon to the people of 
Puerto Rico -- it allows young people see ... 
that Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans can be 
successful scientifically on a world stage."

The observatory is facing severe federal budget 
cuts by 2011 as the result of an NSF Senior 
Review panel recommendation last year. The 
observatory has reduced its operating budget from 
$10 million to $8 million since last year, and 
funding will remain level over the next three 
years.

Fortuño and others in Congress have also written 
to the NSF seeking reconsideration of the 
recommended budget cuts. Fortuño noted that the 
radio astronomy and radar capabilities of the 
facility are critical to detection and tracking 
of near-Earth objects (NEOs), including asteroids 
that could pose a hazard of catastrophic 
destruction and loss of life.

The legislation introduced by Fortuño and 
Rohrabacher would mandate the continued operation 
of the facility and would support the mission of 
NASA with respect to NEOs, as well as research 
for scientific and educational purposes important 
to Puerto Rico and the rest of the nation.

Fortuño said: "Nobel Prize-winning research has 
been conducted at Arecibo in the past and may be 
again in the future, unless the observatory is 
closed for short-sighted reasons. Maintaining 
this facility is an investment in our nation's 
future. The cost is small compared to the 
benefits for America and mankind."

Said Rohrabacher: "Arecibo is a key resource in 
understanding the characteristics of potentially 
hazardous asteroids and comets so that they can 
be dealt with effectively. There is no room for 
error when it comes to eliminating a threat that 
could kill millions."


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