Telescope Cost

I am writing to correct an error in your Jan. 6, 1992, article entitled "Federal Science Support Keeps On Rising, But So Do Complaints About Underfunding" [page 1].

The discussion of the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences' budget situation incorrectly lists "a $192 million eight-meter telescope" as one of our projects.

The project (the GEMINI 8-Meter Telescopes project) is an international project involving the National Science Foundation and our colleagues of the Science and Engineering Research Council of the United Kingdom and the National Research Council of Canada.

GEMINI will provide the astronomers of the partner countries with two 8-meter telescopes, one in Hawaii and the other in Chile, for full-sky coverage. The estimated cost is $176 million for both telescopes, of which NSF is to provide 50 percent, or $88 million.

DAVID A. SANCHEZ
Assistant Director
Mathematical and Physical Sciences
National Science Foundation
Washington, D.C.