![]() Jurkowski, Legislative Assistant for Senator Capito Geoff Hempelmann, Legislative Assistant for Congressman Jenkins Dave McLaughlin, Pocahontas County Commissioner Peggy Hawse, Regional Coordinator for Senator Manchin and Ethan Schrier, President and CEP of Associated Universities, Inc. From left to right: Karen O’Neil, GBO Director Mike Holstine, GBO Business Manager J. Green Bank staff members and local politicians pose in front of the new Green Bank Observatory logo. Green Bank’s major partners so far include the Breakthrough Listen project, the North American NanoHertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), and West Virginia University. To compensate for dwindling NSF funds, Green Bank has signed contracts with science initiatives that pay to make observations with the behemoth Green Bank Telescope (GBT). “We know that they want to continue funding us at some level, but we don’t know what that will be,” Holstine says. After that, the NSF makes no promises of financial support. In 2018, Green Bank can count on $4 million. In 2017, the NSF will grant Green Bank 60% of its previous annual budget, which amounts to about $8 million. Instead of cutting Green Bank off completely in 2016, the NSF now plans to gradually wean the observatory off federal funds. Over the next few years, Green Bank staff and the NSF hammered out a plan to transform the former national observatory into an independent institution. ![]() “We started looking into every possible alternative to keep the facility open,” says Mike Holstine, Green Bank Observatory’s business manager. But the Green Bank team wasn’t giving up that easily. Deprived of its primary source of funding, the observatory was scheduled to shut down on October 1, 2016. This came as no small shock to the folks at Green Bank, which is home to the world’s largest steerable, single-dish radio telescope. But in 2012, the NSF - trying to balance its tightening budget - decided to let Green Bank go. For the last 60 years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded the observatory as part of the NRAO network, which includes other facilities in the United States and Chile. Green Bank’s new independence makes the best of a bad situation. What was once the flagship facility of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is now an autonomous institution. ![]() October 8th marked the dawn of a new era for the radio astronomy observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, the world's largest fully steerable radio dish. Green Bank is celebrating its 60th birthday by seceding from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. ![]()
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