Ring of Fire

Smith said at the board meeting that the NSF, at a May 2 meeting, formally kicked off the process to decide with of the two large telescope projects. The director of NSF, Sethuraman Panchanathan, formally directed the agency to begin an external review that will provide him with advice on whether to support either telescope. That review will examine the progress GMT and TMT have made since their preliminary design reviews and how they are mitigating various risks. The review will also examine how going forward with either telescope would affect overall NSF resources.

The NSF announced in March that the National Science Board had recommended NSF proceed with support of just one of the two telescopes, with a cost cap of $1.6 billion. That came at the same time as the report accompanying the final fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill included language that “strongly encourages” the NSF to support both US-ELT telescopes. Smith said at the board meeting that the NSF, at a May 2 meeting, formally kicked off the process to decide with of the two large telescope projects. The director of NSF, Sethuraman Panchanathan, formally directed the agency to begin an external review that will provide him with advice on whether to support either telescope. That review will examine the progress GMT and TMT have made since their preliminary design reviews and how they are mitigating various risks. The review will also examine how going forward with either telescope would affect overall NSF resources.