Launching the Cosmic Explorer Conceptual Design

推出宇宙探索者概念设计

• 批准号: 2309064
• 负责人: Matthew Evans
• 金额: $ 330.09万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2309064&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Launching; Cosmic; Explorer; Conceptual; Design

Gravitational-wave astronomy has opened a new window on the universe. A century after Einstein predicted gravitational waves, the NSF Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) rewarded decades of investment with direct observations of gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars. Cosmic Explorer, a concept for a next-generation gravitational-wave observatory in the United States, is a proposed project to push the reach of gravitational-wave astronomy to the edge of the observable universe. This grant will enable the first steps in the design process for this Cosmic Explorer observatory, by establishing a Cosmic Explorer Project Office and coordinating all the domestic and international partners. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the totality of the Project will be a focus of this grant.The overarching objective of the planned work is to initiate the design process for Cosmic Explorer. The observatory concept will be developed in collaboration with the separately funded work on subsystems and on the site search efforts. By providing a central hub for coordinating all Cosmic Explorer-related activity, this effort will consolidate the conceptual design, and advance it to the point that engineering and design contracts can be issued to solidify the Project Execution Plan. This will provide all CE-related research efforts with centralized resources for communication, coordination, documentation, training, and promotion of equity, diversity and inclusion.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.

引力波天文学为宇宙打开了一个新窗口。爱因斯坦（Einstein）预测重力波之后的一个世纪，NSF激光干涉仪重力波动台（Ligo）奖励了数十年的投资，并直接观察到重力波从合并黑洞和中子星。宇宙探险家是美国下一代引力波天文台的概念，是一个拟议的项目，旨在将引力波天文学的触及到可观察到的宇宙边缘。该赠款将通过建立宇宙探险家项目办公室并协调所有国内和国际合作伙伴来实现该宇宙探险者天文台设计过程的第一步。该项目的整体股权，多样性和包容性将是这笔赠款的重点。计划工作的总体目标是为宇宙探险者启动设计过程。天文台概念将与单独资助的子系统和现场搜索工作合作开发。通过提供一个中央枢纽来协调所有与宇宙探险者相关的活动，这项工作将巩固概念设计，并将其推进到可以发行工程和设计合同以巩固项目执行计划的地步。这将为所有与CE相关的研究工作提供集中资源，用于沟通，协调，文档，培训和促进公平，多样性和包容性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估的评估来支持的。