Ten years ago, a 10-year review of federally funded astronomy projects and infrastructure was released by the National Academy of Science, concluding that the research then being done at the Green Bank Observatory was less aligned with newly identified research priorities than other observatories.
In light of a stagnant budget, the review recommended the National Science Foundation stop funding Green Bank and two other observatories, and remove them from its portfolio of research sites.
Earlier this month, the Academy released a new 10-year review to update the one it issued in 2011.
“This one had a very different outcome,” said James Jackson, the new director of the Pocahontas County observatory. The new decadal review, Jackson said, lists research priorities with which the observatory is already deeply engaged, and considers Green Bank “essential to astronomy in the next decade.”
Read more: