Launching the Cosmic Explorer Conceptual Design

引力波天文学为研究宇宙打开了一扇新的窗口。在爱因斯坦预言引力波的一个世纪之后，美国国家科学基金会的激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）通过直接观测黑洞和中子星合并产生的引力波，回报了数十年的投资。宇宙探索者是美国下一代引力波天文台的概念，是一个将引力波天文学推向可观测宇宙边缘的拟议项目。这笔拨款将通过建立一个宇宙探索者项目办公室并协调所有国内和国际合作伙伴，使宇宙探索者天文台设计过程的第一步成为可能。整个计划的公平、多样性和包容性将是本奖助金的重点。计划工作的首要目标是启动宇宙探索者的设计过程。天文台的概念将与单独供资的子系统工作和场址搜索工作合作拟订。通过提供一个协调所有宇宙探索者相关活动的中心枢纽，这项工作将巩固概念设计，并将其推进到可以发布工程和设计合同的程度，以巩固项目执行计划。这将为所有与行政会议有关的研究工作提供集中的资源，用于沟通、协调、文件编制、培训和促进公平、多样性和包容性。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。

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.