AAS Informational Email 2006-11

Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 11:48 AM
To: aasmembers@aas.org
Subject: AAS Informational Email 2006-11

AAS Informational Email 2006-11

AAS Releases Statement on Atacama Large Millimeter Array

The AAS Council has released the following statement on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). The National Science Board made the following statement at its most recent meeting on May 9 and 10, 2006.

"The National Science Board authorizes the Director, at his discretion, to increase the spending authority for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) under cooperative agreement AST-0223851 and its successor agreements to extend the duration of the award through September 30, 2012."

AAS Statement on the Atacama Large Millimeter Array

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) applauds the National Science Foundation for moving forward with a rebaselined, fifty-antenna Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).

This decision will enable ALMA to do the transformational science that made it a high priority project in the past two National Academy Decadal Surveys of Astronomy and Astrophysics. ALMA will lay the groundwork for future global science projects, both in astronomy and in other disciplines. As a world project involving multiple regions - Asia, Europe and the Americas - and operating under a fully international governance structure, ALMA has successfully overcome many hurdles and is now poised for completion in 2012.

We are very pleased that the NSF continues its strong support of ALMA.
ALMA will enable important discoveries about the origin of galaxies, stars and planetary systems. The AAS stands ready to work with Congress, the Administration and the NSF to fully implement the prioritized projects described in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.



Mailed to US members from aas.org 23 May 2006

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