NSF Visitor Support for the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

美国宇航局红外望远镜设施（IRTF）是由美国国家航空航天局（NASA）建立的，作为一个国家天文台，主要用于支持航天器任务和获得对太阳系物体的红外观测。IRTF由NASA通过其天文研究所与夏威夷大学（UH）签订合作协议，负责管理、操作和维护。NASA提供该设施的大部分运营成本，并为天文学家提供访客支持，以执行专注于太阳系物体的计划。50%的观测时间分配给了太阳系观测项目。其余的观测时间分配给观测项目，重点是太阳系以外的科学项目。IRTF访问器用于这些非太阳系项目在过去一直得到NSF的支持。这笔拨款将继续为IRTF的访问天文学家提供额外两年的资助。从2012年到2016年，有539篇论文是由IRTF观测得出的，其中395篇是非太阳系论文。IRTF的大部分工作人员都在希洛的UH设施工作，希洛主要是一个农村地区，有大量的少数民族社区。一些未被充分代表的群体（如夏威夷原住民）是休斯敦大学的雇员，或者是休斯敦大学的IRTF学生。IRTF通过三个主要项目为希洛社区的教育和公众宣传做出贡献：宇宙之旅、伊米洛天文中心和莫纳克学者项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a national astronomical observatory primarily to support spacecraft 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 majority of the operating cost of the facility as well as visitor support for the astronomers carrying out programs focused on Solar System objects. Fifty percent of the available observing time is allocated to Solar System observing programs. The rest of the observing time is allocated to observational programs emphasizing scientific programs outside the Solar System. The IRTF visitor use for these non-Solar System programs has been supported by the NSF in the past. This grant will continue the NSF funding support for visiting astronomers for the IRTF for an additional two years.From 2012-2016, 539 refereed publications have resulted from IRTF observations, of which 395 are non-Solar System publications. Most of the IRTF staff is based at the UH facilities in Hilo, situated in a largely rural setting with large minority communities. Several underrepresented groups (e.g., native Hawaiian) are employees of UH or are UH students with the IRTF. The IRTF contributes to educational and public outreach within the Hilo community through three major programs: Journey through the Universe, the Imiloa Astronomy Center, and the Maunakea Scholars Program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.