Lots of scientists explore the space. The universe is so much bigger than we ever imagined. New technologies enable us to delve further and further into the unknown. This work is essential for many reasons. It will help us to achieve new goals, which would have been incomprehensible in the past.
The Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems published a new study about the new technology for astronomy. However, it seems, Federal funding is crucial to make it work.
The study explored the long-term impact of early seed funding, which the National Science Foundation obtained. Lots of the key advances in astronomy benefited from this early seed funding over the past three decades.
During the past 30 years, the NSF Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program has supported astronomers to develop new ways and devices to study the universe. That may include cameras or other instruments, along with innovations in telescope design. The study also traced the origins of some workhorse technologies that scientists use today back to their humble origins decades ago in early grants from NSF. It also explored the impact of technologies that are just now advancing the state-of-the-art.
The impact of new technologies and instrumentation research unfolds over the long term, said Peter Kurczynski. He is Chief Scientist of Cosmic Origins at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Peter also served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, spoke about it.
According to him, new technology is a science multiplier as it enables new ways of observing the universe that wasn’t possible before. Thanks to that, astronomers are able to make better observations, thus gaining deeper insights into the mysteries of the cosmos.
Articles about new technologies have a great impact
The study spoke about the impact of grant-supported research in scientific literature. According to it, papers resulting from technology and instrumentation grants are cited with the same frequency as the ones resulting from pure science grants.
Staša Milojevic is the director of the Center for Complex Network and Systems Research in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University. She noted that instrumentation scientists write papers to the same degree and with the same impact as their colleagues who do not build instruments.
Furthermore, NSF grant-supported research was cited more frequently than general astronomy literature. It seems NSF has set the gold standard in the merit review process for selecting interesting research with funding.
One of the reviewers said that the article is a go-to record for anyone wanting to know the basic history of many breakthroughs in astronomical technology. The fact is that better observations improve our understanding of the universe. Since the birth of modern astronomy, astronomers have relied upon new technologies to study subtle details of the night sky.
Some researchers think that now is a critical time of reflection on the U.S. commitment to Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math.
China and Europe increasingly challenge U.S. preeminence in STEM. But investments in technology have a tremendous impact on science. The truth is that the future of astronomy depends upon the technologies that we develop today
