Completion of the Design and Project Development Phases for Construction Readiness of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)

Association Of Universities For Research In Astronomy, Inc., Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the continuing design and development of a very large celestial camera, the LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope). The LSST will be an 8.4-m diameter, high-performance optical telescope outfitted with a three billion pixel digital camera to be located on a remote, dark, mountain site, at Cerro Pachon, Chile. The project is a collaboration of a large number of institutions, including the Department of Energy (DOE), and has already benefited from a substantial amount of private investment (>$30M). The LSST Project has established partnerships with other agencies and industry: (i) Several Department of Energy laboratories are funding R&D for the design of the camera and will seek DOE funding for its construction. (ii) The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is providing manpower and high performance computer resources during the LSST research and development phase. (iii) Private contributions have enabled the casting and polishing of the primary and tertiary mirrors which will be on a common borosilicate honeycomb substrate. (iv) Many university-based researchers in fields that cut across numerous fields of astronomy and high energy physics are contributing expertise to develop the science case, telescope design, and detailed operations simulations. (v) The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) is playing a lead role in developing the telescope design and error budget, as well as supporting the activities of the Science Working Group. Despite the title, this is not in fact the Final Design Phase. A comprehensive design and operations model, with cost estimates, for both the LSST hardware and software will be provided early on during this award, and will form the basis for an NSF-conducted Preliminary Design Review (PDR). If the PDR is passed successfully, the project will then enter its final design phase. The scientific, technical, and managerial groundwork for the construction phase of the LSST will be laid during this phase with particular attention paid to continued reduction and retirement of risk. 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. Design and development activities 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 and outreach program that will pay near-term dividends in K-adult education. In addition, the community will see significant technical overlap between the LSST and the needs of other imaging systems and software under development in the national security arena.