Management and Operation of the National Astronomy and Inosphere Center (NAIC), Arecibo Observatory (AO) 2005-2010

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ABSTRACTCornell University will manage and operate the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) under Cooperative Agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the period FY2005 - 2009. The first 18 months of this period will be carried out under extension of the FY2000-2004 cooperative agreement. The NAIC was formed in 1973 by Cornell and has been operated by Cornell since that time as a multidisciplinary national center for research in astronomy and aeronomy supported by the NSF. The cornerstone research instrument of the NAIC is the 305-m diameter Arecibo telescope, the largest radio/radar telescope in the world. The NAIC seeks to implement as its primary scientific objectives those consensus recommendations formulated by the astronomical and aeronomical research communities themselves and articulated in the relevant decadal reports of the National Research Council. The first NAIC "radio camera", the Arecibo L-band Feed Array, operated by joint teams of university researchers and NAIC scientists, will create archival databases for use by all astronomers. NAIC will continue to operate its highly successful Visitor Center, which attracts more people annually (120,000) than visit all other NSF astronomy facilities combined. In 2003, Cornell/NAIC established the Office for the Public Understanding of Science (OPUS) at the Observatory. The objective of OPUS in the period of the current award is to become a leader in scientific outreach efforts to the Hispanic community, a community that is underrepresented in the fields of mathematics, science and engineering.