Management and Operation of the Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and Long Baseline Observatory (LBO), amending AST-0836064 formerly entitled "Management and Operation of NRAO..."

SchreierAssociated Universities, Inc. （AUI）将从2009年10月1日至2015年9月30日管理美国国家射电天文台（NRAO）的运行，以保持NRAO作为世界上首屈一指的射电天文台的良好声誉。研究界将获得最先进的能力：绿岸望远镜（GBT），最精确的全孔径全可控射电望远镜；扩展甚大阵列（EVLA），取代了甚大阵列，它已经是有史以来最多产的射电望远镜；超长基线阵列（VLBA），具有微弧秒天文测量功能，是任何波长分辨率最高的成像望远镜；阿塔卡马大型毫米波/亚毫米波阵列（ALMA），具有前所未有的毫米波灵敏度和分辨率。所有这些都将使用最先进的仪器，先进的数据处理和广泛的用户支持，使整个天文学界能够解决天文学和天体物理学中的关键问题。知识价值：天文学和天体物理学研究的机会从未如此丰富。独特的NRAO射电望远镜将补充下一代大型地面光学望远镜和覆盖整个电磁频谱的天基设施。它们共同构成了一套全面的强大工具，可以探索和破译各种悬而未决的问题，从行星、恒星、类星体和星系的起源，到宇宙的结构和暗物质和暗能量的本质。VLBA、EVLA和ALMA的观测将为系外行星、行星和恒星的形成和演化提供新的视角。EVLA和ALMA将对第一批接近再电离时代末期的星系和z~1以外的正常星系的气体和尘埃进行成像。VLBA微弧秒天体测量使一类新的精确测量主序星的视差、恒星响应系外行星的反冲运动、星系的结构和本星系群的动力学成为可能。使用GBT进行精确脉冲星计时，可以在强场极限下对广义相对论进行高精度测试，并探测纳赫兹引力波的随机背景。多历元高分辨率VLBA图像将有助于更好地理解来自活动星系核中发现的微类星体和超大质量黑洞的相对论性喷流，以及GLAST卫星所看到的伽马射线暴的性质。GBT将发现新的巨透镜，后续的VLBA观测将提供哈勃流中星系角直径距离的测定，从而更精确地测定哈勃常数，更高精度地测定宇宙常数，更好地约束暗能量状态方程。更广泛的影响：每年有超过一千名科学家使用NRAO的设施，并且根据所提议的研究的智力价值向所有科学家开放，独立于机构或国家关系。NRAO将在其科学中心提供端到端的用户支持，使整个天文社区能够轻松访问其望远镜及其数据。校正后的图像将以档案形式提供给广大的研究界和公众，通过虚拟天文台都可以访问。天文学是实现与多样性、科学技术教育和提高美国竞争力有关的国家目标的重要因素。NRAO正在吸引越来越多样化的员工。通过本科生研究经验（REU）和合作项目，常驻研究生奖学金和外部学生助学金，绿色银行和索科罗暑期学校，以及竞争激烈的博士后詹斯基奖学金，它继续帮助培养下一代科学家。绿色岸科学中心、VLA游客中心、美智师生交流项目、教师和K-12教育项目，进一步为培养科学素养的公众服务。

ABSTRACTAST 0836064PI: SchreierAssociated Universities, Inc. (AUI) will manage the operation of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2015, maintaining the strong reputation of NRAO as the premier radio astronomy observatory in the world. The research community will be provided cutting-edgecapabilities: the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the most precise filled-aperture, fully steerable radio telescope; the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), replacing the Very Large Array, already the most productive radio telescope ever built; the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), with micro-arcsecondastrometry, the highest resolution imaging telescope at any wavelength; and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), with unprecedented millimeter-wavelength sensitivity and resolution. All will operate with state-of-the art instrumentation, advanced data processing, and broad usersupport, enabling the entire astronomy community to address key problems in astronomy and astrophysics.INTELLECTUAL MERIT: The opportunities for astronomy and astrophysics research have never been richer. The unique NRAO radio telescopes will complement the next generation of large ground based optical telescopes and space-based facilities covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Together theycomprise a comprehensive suite of powerful tools to probe and decipher the full range of outstanding problems, from the origin of planets, stars, quasars and galaxies, to the structure of the Universe and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Observations with VLBA, EVLA and ALMA will shed new light onexoplanets, and planetary and stellar formation and evolution. EVLA and ALMA will image the gas and dust of the first galaxies near the end of the epoch of reionization and normal galaxies beyond z~1. VLBA microarcsecond astrometry is making possible a new class of precision measurements of the parallax of premain sequence stars, recoil motions of stars in response to exoplanets, the structure of the Galaxy and the dynamics of the Local Group of galaxies. Accurate pulsar timing with the GBT is enabling high precisiontests of General Relativity in the strong field limit and detection of the stochastic background of nanoHertz gravitational waves. Multi-epoch high resolution VLBA images will lead to a better understanding of relativistic jets from micro-quasars and supermassive black holes found in Active Galactic Nuclei, along with the nature of gamma-ray bursts seen by the GLAST satellite. GBT will discover new megamasers, and follow-up VLBA observations will provide the angular-diameter distance determination of galaxies in the Hubble flow, leading to a more accurate determination of the Hubble Constant, higher precision determination of cosmological constants, and better constraints on the equation of state of dark energy. BROADER IMPACT: NRAO facilities are used by more than one thousand scientists each year and are available to all scientists based on the intellectual merits of the proposed studies, independent of institutional or national affiliation. NRAO will provide end-to-end user support at its science centers, enabling easyaccess to its telescope and their data by the entire astronomical community. Calibrated images will be made available in archives accessible to both the broad research community and the public through the Virtual Astronomical Observatory. Astronomy is an important element in meeting national goals related to diversity, science and technology education, and increased U.S. competitiveness. NRAO is attracting an increasingly diverse staff. Through the undergraduate Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and co-op programs, resident graduate fellowships and external student grants, Green Bank and Socorro summer schools, and competitive postdoctoral Jansky Fellowships, it continues to help train the next generation of scientists. The Green Bank Science Center, the VLA Visitors Center, US-Chile teacher/student exchange programs, and teacher and K-12 education programs, further serve to create a science-literate public.