International Cooperation Is Vital To Progress In Field, Say Astronomers

WASHINGTON-United States astronomers are preparing to ask the National Science Foundation to build two telescopes for the price of one. Their request, to be submitted next month, is part of a larger effort to reduce the cost of new projects in ground-based astronomy by increasing international collaboration. A plan for two 8-meter telescopes, one on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and one at Cerro Tololo in Chile, has been drawn up by the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO). The organization, which is funded by NSF, operates 4-meter optical telescopes on Kiu Peak in Arizona and Cerro Tololo, along with smaller telescopes at those sites and in New Mexico. The total cost of the two new telescopes would be $125 million, according to Sidney Wolfe, NOAO director. That hefty price tag has led to a search for partners in the project, which NOAO hopes can begin in 1992 and be completed by the end of the decade. Fortunately for NOAO, astronomers in the United Kingdom and Canada have been developing separate proposals for government-funded 8-meter telescopes. A stipulation by both nations that the cost would be shared with another country has led each group to seek an international alliance. "Many of us are pessimistic that NSF will fund two telescopes," says Wolfe. As evidence, Wolfe cites NSF's opposition earlier this decade to a call from the National Academy of Sciences to build a 16-meter facility, dubbed the National New Technology Telescope. She also notes that NOAO's budget over the past five years hasn't even kept up with inflation. Share And Share Alike But Wolfe is determined to find a way around that financial crunch. "We've talked informally with the British and the Canadians about sharing the cost," she says. "We hope to find a way for all three countries to join together in supporting these projects." Under the NOAO proposal, NSF would pay for the equivalent of one telescope and retain a share in both facilities. Wolfe hopes that Britain and Canada would provide additional funding and, in return, receive a share in one or both telescopes. Canadian astronomers are expected to endorse a proposal for a shared 8-meter telescope at an association meeting this week, the first step in negotiations with their government on funding such a facility. "There's very considerable enthusiasm that we should become involved in an 8-meter telescope," says astrophysicist Donald Morton, director of the government-funded Hertzberg Institute in Ottawa. "The 8-meter telescope will be the dominant instrument for years to come, and Canadian astronomers want to have a piece of the action." In Britain, the government agency that funds most astronomical research has already put forward a plan for a 40% share in such a telescope. Canada and Britain are already collaborating on a 15-meter radio telescope, the James Maxwell, which began operating last year in Hawaii. Plans for two large optical telescopes may be the most visible sign of potential global collaboration in astronomy. But they aren't the only indication of a desire to step over international boundaries to advance the field. In fact, building the two telescopes is one of several recommendations contained in a report presented last month at a meeting in Oxford, England, of the directors of science agencies in seven countries. The science administrators from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Japan, and West Germany had created a joint working group on ground-based astronomy at their previous meeting last summer in Venice. The working group reviewed the current activities and goals of each country and blended them into a report. The group calls for joint efforts to build a coordinated system of four gravitational wave detectors, continued support for the European Southern Observatory (four 8-meter telescopes to be built in Chile) and support for a 7.5-meter Japanese telescope on Mauna Kea. The report also emphasizes the need to resolve such administrative problems as preserving the environment around observatory sites, increasing access to all facilities, and eliminating trade barriers to the import and export of scientific equipment. Lowering Barriers Those trade barriers hinder progress in astronomy by making new equipment more costly and by restricting its use. "People at our observatory at Cerro Tololo regularly build things for us in the United States," notes Laura ("Pat") Bautz, NSF astronomy division director. "But we have to pay import duties, and spend a lot of administrative time, before we can bring it into this country." Anticipating a joint effort on the proposed 8-meter telescopes, adds that "the problem is going to get worse when we build a telescope with another country. Some of those parts are going to be built in those countries, and we'd like to lower those barriers before they get in the way." Astronomers would also like to cut through the red tape that hinders the export of instruments made by U.S. scientists to facilities in other countries. "What we want is a sensible policy that ensures the best use of the equipment," says Wolfe. But they realize that it's hard to separate such items as infrared detectors from the overall rules governing the export of all types of advanced technology. "Once you broaden the issues beyond astronomy," she admits, "it gets a lot more complicated." NSF Director Erich Bloch has asked Bautz to meet with officials from several government agencies to assess what rules need to be changed to increase the flow of astronomical equipment and information around the world. Bautz sees those meetings as the first step in implementing the recommendations of the multinational joint working group. A Strong Commitment The report of the working group states that one advantage of such joint projects is that they "demonstrate a country's commitment to technically challenging and scientifically promising" big-science efforts. NOAO's Wolfe hopes that spirit will also lower the odds of getting two telescopes. "Despite the enormous fmancial pressure on our budget, I'm optimistic about our chances," she says. "This project is a highly visible example of international cooperation."

International Cooperation Is Vital To Progress In Field, Say Astronomers

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