Monday, November 28, 2016

Cloudy Future for Green Bank Observatory


The National Science Foundation has been asked by the federal government to consider divesting itself of the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope. The facility has been in operation for over a half century, with a new radio telescope built there in 2001. 
 
According to Newsline, the foundation - which provides the observatory's funding - is considering several options for its future, ranging from continuing operations as they currently are to shutting down and demolishing the facility. 

Two public meetings were planned for November to seek input from the public and the scientific community. As of this writing, online input is still being accepted. For details, see <http://greenbankobservatory.org/eis-statement/>.