Training of Instrumentalists and Development of New Technologies on SOFIA
Abstract
This white paper is submitted to the Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 Decadal Survey (Astro2010)1 Committee on the State of the Profession to emphasize the potential of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to contribute to the training of instrumentalists and observers, and to related technology developments. This potential goes beyond the primary mission of SOFIA, which is to carry out unique, high priority astronomical research. SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP aircraft with a 2.5 meter telescope. It will enable astronomical observations anywhere, any time, and at most wavelengths between 0.3 microns and 1.6 mm not accessible from ground-based observatories. These attributes, accruing from the mobility and flight altitude of SOFIA, guarantee a wealth of scientific return. Its instrument teams (nine in the first generation) and guest investigators will do suborbital astronomy in a shirt-sleeve environment. The project will invest $10M per year in science instrument development over a lifetime of 20 years. This, frequent flight opportunities, and operation that enables rapid changes of science instruments and hands-on in-flight access to the instruments, assure a unique and extensive potential - both for training young instrumentalists and for encouraging and deploying nascent technologies. Novel instruments covering optical, infrared, and submillimeter bands can be developed for and tested on SOFIA by their developers (including apprentices) for their own observations and for those of guest observers, to validate technologies and maximize observational effectiveness.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0903.4240,
title = {Training of Instrumentalists and Development of New Technologies on SOFIA},
author = {Edwin F. Erickson and Louis J. Allamandola and Jean-Paul Baluteau and Eric E. Becklin and Gordon Bjoraker and Michael Burton and Lawrence J. Caroff and Cecilia Ceccarelli and Edward B. Churchwell and Dan P. Clemens and Martin Cohen and Dale P. Cruikshank and Harriet L. Dinerstein and Edward W. Dunham and Giovanni G. Fazio and Ian Gatley and Robert D. Gehrz and Reinhard Genzel and Paul Graf and Matthew A. Greenhouse and Doyal A. Harper and Paul M. Harvey and Martin Harwit and Roger H. Hildebrand and David J. Hollenbach and Adair P. Lane and Harold P. Larson and Steven D. Lord and Suzanne Madden and Gary J. Melnick and David A. Neufeld and Catherine B. Olkin and Christopher C. Packham and Thomas L. Roellig and Hans-Peter Roeser and Scott A. Sandford and Kristen Sellgren and Janet P. Simpson and John W. V. Storey and Charles M. Telesco and Alexander G. G. M. Tielens and Alan T. Tokunaga and Charles H. Townes and Christopher K. Walker and Michael W. Werner and Stanley E. Whitcomb and Juergen Wolf and Charles E. Woodward and Erick T. Young and Jonas Zmuidzinas},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.4240},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
10 pages, no figures, White Paper for Astro 2010 Survey Committee on State of the Profession