A letter was recently sent out to several hundred US astronomers announcing the opportunity to participate in the Gemini instrumentation program. As I could not send the letter to everyone who might have an interest, I asked those who received it to share the information with colleagues. I also want to solicit expressions of interest in response to this article, which summarizes the opportunities for involvement.
As dictated by the international agreement through which the United States participates in the Gemini partnership, approximately one-half of the instrumentation for the Gemini telescopes will be assigned to be built by US institutions. This work will be managed by the United States Gemini Program.
The US Gemini Program is soliciting expressions of interest from those in the community who would like to participate in:
The specific instruments that have been identified for early consideration are:
These possible future instruments will be prioritized using input from the scientific communities of the partner countries and cost estimates produced by the national Gemini project offices. One or more groups will be contracted to produce complete conceptual designs, and then a group will be selected to finalize the design and fabricate the instrument. More details of this process are given in the letter that was widely distributed.
Anyone interested in participating in the scientific prioritization process or in the design and construction of Gemini instruments should respond by e-mail (tyb@noao.edu), FAX (520-318-8596), or mail (USGP Instrumentation Program, USGP/NOAO, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726-6732).
Todd Boroson