As announced on French social media, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope has formalized its scientific and technical collaboration with the French with a pair of signed agreements. On March 5, 2015, representatives from the Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the LSST Corporation (LSSTC), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the LSST Project Office (LSSTPO), and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, met in Paris, France to sign two agreements solidifying partnerships related to the construction, operations, and exploitation of the LSST.
A Memorandum of Agreement between IN2P3, LSSTC, LSSTPO, and NCSA established a partnership between the parties to enable IN2P3 to contribute to the LSST Data Release Processing during the survey operations of the facility. The second agreement, between IN2P3, SLAC, and LSSTC, extended an existing scientific and technical collaboration between IN2P3 and SLAC into the fabrication phase of the Camera Project for the LSST.
Organizational representatives sign the agreements (Above, L-R): LSST Director, Professor Steven Kahn, representing SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the LSSTPO; IN2P3 Director, Prof. Jacques Martino representing the CNRS; LSSTC Executive Officer, Pat Eliason.
Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1202910, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The DOE-funded effort to build the the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an
independent federal agency created by Congress
in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.
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