The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) for Design and Development

大型综合巡天望远镜（LSST）将是一台宽视场望远镜，它将为天文学增添新的能力。LSST将提供整个天空中微弱天体的延时数字成像，其分辨率将需要超过2000个高清电视屏幕才能观看每10秒的曝光。LSST已被包括多个国家研究理事会委员会在内的多个国家小组确定为国家科学优先事项。这一判断是基于LSST解决天文学和基础物理学中一些最紧迫的开放问题的能力，同时推动数据密集型科学和计算的进步。例如，LSST将提供前所未有的宇宙质量分布的三维地图，除了传统的发光恒星和星系的图像。这些质量图可以用来更好地理解新发现的、完全神秘的“暗能量”的性质，这种能量正在推动宇宙的加速膨胀。LSST还将对我们的太阳系进行全面普查，包括小至100米大小的潜在危险小行星。这些只是可以用LSST数据集进行的广泛科学的两个例子。通过每隔几个晚上观察整个可访问的天空，LSST将提供现在很少观察到的事件的大量样本，并将为新发现创造巨大的潜力。LSST将产生世界上最大的非专有数据集，该数据集将通过虚拟天文台（VO）提供。“开放数据”的方法，没有专有数据或科学，是LSST项目的一个先例。LSST项目将分布在许多组织中，并在一个单一的管理计划下进行协调。由三个能源部（DOE）国家实验室组成的联盟负责交付相机组件。NSF国家超级计算机应用中心和劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室（LLNL）将与LSST团队的其他软件专家合作，负责数据管理任务。美国国家光学天文台（NOAO）和亚利桑那大学将领导望远镜的设计和建造。正在提供资金，以开展下一阶段的LSST项目开发。将为LSST硬件和软件提供一个全面的设计和操作模型，并进行成本估算。将为LSST的建设阶段奠定科学，技术和管理基础。 将特别注意在三个方面尽早降低风险：相机的探测器、8米级望远镜的大型光学元件和项目软件（在真实的时间内，该软件将不得不处理每晚20 TB的数据）。LSST的广泛影响将是深远的，因为世界各地的科学家、公众和学童都将随时获得数据。初步设计和开发活动的更广泛影响包括：（1）各级人员的培训和教育，将最先进的计算科学与天体物理学相结合;（2）利用现有的LSST“先驱”项目，推进最先进的实时数据库模式和公共访问工具;以及3）通过LSST前兆调查数据开发和完善LSST教育/推广计划，这将在K-成人教育中获得近期红利。最后，在国家安全竞技场中，LSST与其他成像系统和正在开发的软件的需求之间可能存在重大的技术重叠，该奖项的资金来自天文科学司和数学与物理科学理事会多学科活动办公室。

Proposal AST 0551161Subaward to LSSTC for Design and DevelopmentAbstractThe Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will be a wide-field telescope and facility that will add a new capability in astronomy. The LSST will provide time-lapse digital imaging of faint astronomical objects across the entire sky, with a resolution that would require over two thousand High-Definition TV screens to view each 10-second exposure. The LSST has been identified as a national scientific priority by diverse national panels, including multiple National Research Council committees. This judgment is based upon the LSST's ability to address some of the most pressing open questions in astronomy and fundamental physics, while driving advances in data-intensive science and computing. For example, the LSST will provide unprecedented 3-dimensional maps of the mass distribution in the Universe, in addition to the traditional images of luminous stars and galaxies. These mass maps can be used to better understand the nature of the newly discovered and utterly mysterious "dark energy" that is driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe. The LSST will also provide a comprehensive census of our solar system, including potentially hazardous asteroids as small as 100 meters in size. These are but two examples of the wide-ranging science that can be carried out with the LSST data set. By looking at the entire accessible sky every few nights, the LSST will provide large samples of events that are now only rarely observed and will create substantial potential for new discoveries. The LSST will produce the largest non-proprietary data set in the world, and this data set will be made accessible through the Virtual Observatory (VO). The "open data" approach, with no proprietary data or science, is a precedent-setting aspect of the LSST project.The LSST program will be distributed among a number of organizations and coordinated under a single management plan. A consortium of three Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories is responsible for the delivery of the camera assembly. The NSF National Center for Supercomputer Applications and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will be responsible for tasks in data management in collaboration with other software experts on the LSST team. The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and the University of Arizona will take the lead for telescope design and construction. Funding is being provided to carry out the next stage of LSST project development. A comprehensive design and operations model, with cost estimates, for both the LSST hardware and software will be provided. The scientific, technical, and managerial groundwork for the construction phase of the LSST will be laid. Particular attention will be paid to early reduction of risk in three areas: the camera's detectors, the large optical elements of the 8-m class telescope, and the project software (which will have to contend with 20 Terabytes per night, in real time).The broader impacts of the LSST will be profound, as scientists, the public, and schoolchildren around the world will have ready access to the data. Broader impacts of the initial design and development activity include 1) the training and education of personnel at all levels, integrating state-of-the-art computational science with astrophysics; 2) using existing LSST "precursor" projects to advance the state-of-the-art in real-time database schema and public access tools; and 3) developing and refining an LSST education/outreach program via LSST precursor survey data that will pay near-term dividends in K-adult education. Finally, there may be significant technical overlap between the LSST and the needs of other imaging systems and software under development in the national security arena.Funding for this award is coming from the Division of Astronomical Sciences and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate.