August 2 and 3, 2010

ReSTAR: The Origins of KOSMOS

David Sprayberry

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References

• 2006 NSF AST Senior Review Report, http://www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/seniorreview/sr-report.pdf

• 2007 NOAO ReSTAR Committee Report, http://www.noao.edu/system/restar/files/ReSTAR_final_14jan08.pdf

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Long, Long Ago…

• Nov 2006: NSF Senior Review report out• Relevant recommendations:

– NOAO should enlarge efforts to renew infrastructure and instruments at 4-m’s

– NOAO should partner with other institutions to do this

– NSF should give NOAO additional money to support this

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Enter ReSTAR

• NOAO commissioned an effort to:– Survey forefront science for 4-m class scopes– Identify most critical community needs– Recommend a program for meeting them

• Carried out by committee from community– Included much community outreach

• Consultation with NSF throughout

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ReSTAR Report

• Lots of science: Solar System to Cosmology

• Identified need for additional open-access time on 4-m-class

• Identified need for modern instruments:– Wide-field imagers (already done or underway)– Moderate R, high throughput spectrographs– High R, efficient spectrographs

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ReSTAR Policy Goals

• Meet these needs as quickly and cheaply as possible (NSF resources limited)– Don’t reinvent wheels– Partner with other institutions to leverage

recent experience

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Implementation Proposal• NOAO submitted unsolicited proposal to

NSF– $12.3M over three years– Enhance infrastructure related to science– Enlarge 4-m-class nights available (Hale, DCT)– Build 4 spectrographs– Study involvement in time-domain network– Etc

• Proposal listed pre-selected partners…

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Post-Proposal

• Proposal submitted Nov 2008• Written reviews to NSF• Reverse site visit in May 2009• NOAO notified of initial decision late July

2009– $3M for one year only; future years not

assured– Revised proposal requested to fit

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First Year Program

• Stick to things that could be completed from the first year’s funding

• NOAO solicited community input• Recommendations:

– Hale time– One adaptation of OSMOS, for Kitt Peak Mayall– Improvements to readout speed, efficiency of

existing instruments

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And off we go…

• First year funding received late Aug 2009

• Began design adaptation study with OSU in September

• Negotiated and executed design phase contract in parallel with start of study

• Elected to have separate contracts for design and build phases

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Postscript: COSMOS

• NOAO recently learned that more funding will be available for Year 2 of ReSTAR

• COSMOS is first priority for use of additional funds (and there should be enough…)

• OSU and NOAO planning to build both KOSMOS and COSMOS, programmed to minimize total cost and schedule (more later)