NSF Visitor Support for the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

NSF 访客对 NASA 红外望远镜设施的支持

• 批准号: 1242471
• 负责人: John Rayner
• 金额: $ 71.84万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-10-01 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1242471&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Visitor; Support; NASA; Infrared

The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) was established by NASA as a national astronomical observatory primarily to support missions and to obtain infrared observations of solar system objects. The IRTF is managed, operated and maintained for NASA under a Cooperative Agreement with the University of Hawaii (UH) through its Institute for Astronomy. NASA provides the entire cost of operation of the facility as well as visitor support for the astronomers carrying out programs focused on Solar System objects. Approximately 50% of the available observing time is allocated to such programs. The rest of the observing time is allocated to observational programs of scientific interest outside the Solar System. NSF provides funding for visitor support for the approximately 50% of observers whose programs are not related to Solar System objects. This award covers the NSF-related visitor and observing support costs for observers who either come to the observatory or observe remotely. These costs include the cost of lodging and food at the Mauna Kea Observatory mid-level facility, ground transportation between Hilo and the summit, and cryogens for the instruments. For remote observing programs, the costs include support for a second person at the summit (for safety reasons) and the food and lodging for this person at the mid-level facility. In regard to broader impact, most of the IRTF staff are based at the UH facilities in Hilo, situated in a largely rural setting. Several underrepresented groups (e.g. native Hawaiian) are employees of or are UH students with the IRTF. In addition to disseminating research results to the scientific community, the IRTF contributes to educational and public outreach within the Hilo community through two major programs ? Journey through the Universe (JTTU) and the Imiloa Astronomy Center. The JTTU program (the IRTF is part of the team) is a community based program originally sponsored by USRA?s National Center for Space, Earth, and Flight Sciences that brings together the resources of the entire local community (schools, families, businesses, civic groups, local government, and academic/research institutes) to promote astronomy and science to K-12 students through the development of an astronomy curriculum for all grade levels. The IRTF is a resource for highlighting exciting examples of science and technology in Hilo. The Imiloa Astronomy Center is a modern astronomy education and outreach center in Hilo whose goal is to educate the greater community on astronomy and its connection to the Hawaiian culture, both present and past. The IRTF works with the Imiloa Astronomy Center with development of educational materials, the most recent example being the development of a planetarium program featuring the IRTF. The IRTF staff also works with community-based programs such as Astro-Day, an annual event dedicated to sharing astronomy with the public. Of particular note is a robotics-based program for local high schools that is led by a member of the IRTF staff. This program has led to competition at the national level.

美国航天局红外望远镜设施是美国航天局作为国家天文观测站建立的，主要用于支持飞行任务和获得太阳系物体的红外观测。根据与夏威夷（UH）通过其天文学研究所签订的合作协定，国际遥感工作队为美国航天局进行管理、运营和维护。NASA提供该设施的全部运营费用，以及对天文学家进行太阳系天体项目的游客支持。大约50%的可用观测时间分配给这些方案。其余的观测时间被分配给太阳系外具有科学意义的观测计划。NSF为大约50%的项目与太阳系天体无关的观察者提供访问支持资金。该奖项涵盖了与国家科学基金会有关的访问者和观察员的观察支持费用，这些观察员要么来到天文台，要么进行远程观察。这些费用包括莫纳克亚天文台中层设施的住宿和食物费用，希洛和山顶之间的地面交通费用，以及仪器的冷冻剂费用。对于远程观测计划，费用包括在山顶的第二个人的支持（出于安全原因）和这个人在中层设施的食物和住宿。至于更广泛的影响，大多数IRTF工作人员都在希洛的UH设施工作，该设施主要位于农村地区。一些代表性不足的群体（如夏威夷土著）是IRTF的雇员或UH学生。除了向科学界传播研究成果外，IRTF还通过两个主要项目在希洛社区内促进教育和公共宣传。宇宙之旅（JTTU）和Imiloa天文中心。JTTU计划（IRTF是团队的一部分）是一个基于社区的计划，最初由USRA赞助。国家空间，地球和飞行科学中心汇集了整个当地社区（学校，家庭，企业，民间团体，地方政府和学术/研究机构）的资源，通过为所有年级制定天文学课程，向K-12学生推广天文学和科学。IRTF是一个突出希洛令人兴奋的科学和技术实例的资源。Imiloa天文中心是希洛的一个现代天文学教育和外展中心，其目标是教育更大的天文学社区及其与夏威夷文化的联系，包括现在和过去。IRTF与Imiloa天文学中心合作开发教育材料，最近的例子是开发了一个以IRTF为特色的天文馆方案。IRTF的工作人员还与以社区为基础的项目合作，如天文日，这是一项致力于与公众分享天文学的年度活动。特别值得注意的是一个由IRTF工作人员领导的针对当地高中的基于机器人的项目。这一方案导致了国家一级的竞争。