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    Report: NASA Should Participate in Dark Matter-Mapping Mission

    By Dan Leone, Space News
    Space.com     | SPACE.com – Tue, Feb 7, 2012

    WASHINGTON — NASA should contribute $20 million worth of hardware to Europe’s planned Euclid dark-matter observatory, but only "in the context of a strong U.S. commitment" to the proposed Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), a panel of astrophysicists said.

    The National Research Council’s Committee on the Assessment of a Plan for U.S. Participation in Euclid was asked by NASA in November to determine whether that mission would help fulfill any of WFIRST’s science objectives. The European Space Agency (ESA) wants NASA to provide near-infrared detectors for Euclid in exchange for a spot on the 12-member Euclid science team and early access to the mission’s science data.

    ESA has said that if the United States wants to participate, a formal memorandum of understanding must be signed by mid-May.

    The panel said that while participating in Euclid would advance dark-matter research, identified as a key priority in the most recent decadal survey of proposed astrophysics missions, it is no substitute for WFIRST. Euclid, the panel said, “is not sufficient for achieving the broader decadal survey goals for the WFIRST mission, nor will it seek to accomplish the more ambitious goals for WFIRST’s dark energy measurements.”

    At a meeting in January, some panel members voiced concerns that contributing to Euclid might make WFIRST appear redundant at a time when U.S. government agencies are facing pressure to cut spending.

    Euclid, one of two ESA M-class science missions selected in October for development, is to launch in 2019 on a Europeanized version of Russia’s Soyuz rocket. ESA says it wants, but does not need, a U.S. contribution to proceed with the mission. WFIRST has not yet made it off the drawing board and is not likely to launch before 2025, acting NASA Astrophysics Director Paul Hertz said Jan. 18.

    This article was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

     

    31 comments

    • Seattle206723
      Seattle206723  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      The comments on here make me both Ill and Angry... FACT! If it wan't for Physiscist and Mathematicians which = Scientist.. You wouldn't be on your Keyboards right now typing. Most of the post here are a SIGN OF THE DECADENCE IN AMERICAN SOCIETY!

      A^2 +2ab +B^2 = (a+b)^2 " If this looks like Egyptian Hyper Glyphs then you are in Sad shape"
      Get out and Learn Something; Stop the Madness of a Lost Society! My GOD!
      • David
        David 3 mths ago
        Yes, but don't you mean 'hieroglyphs'?
      • Atilla
        Atilla 3 mths ago
        You are wasting your breath. Most of the Hicks can't balance a checkbook, much less understand a simple equation. Without scientists, the rest of them would revert to cave dwellings and 'clubs'.... "Hey Og, how did you get that good looking woman?" Bog said "Whacked her over the head and drug her into the bushes". Og said "Thanks man. I gotta try that".
      • Seattle206723
        Seattle206723 3 mths ago
        Thumbs up David... I'm a Mathematician not a English Teacher :P.... Thanks though... I did intend to look it up first before I typed it.. Though my anger won out and I typed first... = P
    • Robert
      Robert  •  3 mths ago
      The comments on here explain why America can't compete.
      • Seattle206723
        Seattle206723 3 mths ago
        Very true I gave you a thumbs up I'm going to post a comment on here also..
    • Davo
      Davo  •  Doylestown, Pennsylvania  •  3 mths ago
      what we need here on earth is a little more grey matter
    • Christian
      Christian  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      If we spent half as much on science as we do on occupying other countries, we would be driving dark-matter powered cars by now instead of trying to figure out what it is.
    • Robert
      Robert  •  3 mths ago
      For such a seemingly modest cost, we should jump on the opportunity,
      • Atilla
        Atilla 3 mths ago
        For the modest sum of $1,000,000 I will allow you to participate in the next wave of communications. Dark Matter batteries for cell phones. Send your checks and money orders to Youcantrustus, PO Box 98436789, Greasy Buffalo, Montana
    • Fake_Name
      Fake_Name  •  Van Nuys, California  •  3 mths ago
      But the American taxpayers lack the grey matter in their heads to realize the importance of such endevours. Today we think everything we spend with our taxes better have some economic benefit tommorrow for everyone otherwise "it's pork". We've lost our desire to discover for the sake of discovery-that's what used to be our ace...our ingenuity and willingness to take risks even at a loss to taxpayers. But ingenuity only comes about when curiosity is satisfied for the sake of knowledge and not economic expansion. Economic expansion can be directly attributed to folks who did stuff not intending for anything they did to become some sort of consumer good, but because they wanted to know. You don't find the cure for diseases, without first having some biologist curious about mutations in fruit flies, for example. If the average taxpayer today was back in the 60's there's no way they'd be interested in giving a group of guys a few hundred million dollars to satisfy their curiosity about sending packets through the telephone line which only resulted in a ping when we have a perfectly good telephone system. Thank goodness they we taxpayers did spend the money to indulge these guys...because the internet would have taken a bit longer to have been created if ever. Is it a risk to fund R & D for electric vehicles? Yes. But think of the potential if it's successful instead of trying to validate your biases when it fails?
      • Atilla
        Atilla 3 mths ago
        How does naming a sports stadium after "Senator Fecund" benefit anyone? That is PORK.
      • Scott J
        Scott J 3 mths ago
        Love when someone makes a productive, intelligent post only to have some #$%$ comment with some completely unrelated gibberish. And then someone else thumbs up that #$%$'s comment. We really are in trouble...
    • cantdrive85
      cantdrive85  •  Denver, Colorado  •  3 mths ago
      $20 million to find an undetectable, immeasurable fairy tale. What a waste.
    • uncommon_otaku
      uncommon_otaku  •  3 mths ago
      its a pity, when we have homeless families starving in our own backyard. Perfectly good people with no jobs, the future is bright for elitist "scientists". While the common man has to suffer for meaningless gains in "science".
    • Jimmie
      Jimmie  •  3 mths ago
      It's a long fall from Apollo 11 to begging to participate.
    • uncommon_otaku
      uncommon_otaku  •  3 mths ago
      If we were a true star faring civilization, sure it would probably be good. But the truth is WE are not a Star Faring Civilization. We're just primatives in a backwater corner of the Milky Way. Human Science has not even visited the outer planets of our own solar system. And here these so called scientists want to reach for that which is impossible to touch with our own primative technology.There are far too many problems with our planet that need vital attention. But we're #$%$ away resources for fleeting glory of a few "scientists".Humans will be extinct long before we get to make any tangible use of this knowledge.
    • Tom H
      Tom H  •  Bannister, Michigan  •  3 mths ago
      My,oh my. Tell ya what,Dark matter is just free frequency globules that collect in the system due to inability to field down the appropriate field lines,no big deal,lifter men just avoid them,so no big secret,but you could send me a check and then have those foolish tier 3 NASA boys do something rational,if thats possible.
    • Thunderstud
      Thunderstud  •  3 mths ago
      $20 million does nothing. Make it $20 billion and that might buy ya something.
    • grouchyoldfart
      grouchyoldfart  •  Las Vegas, Nevada  •  3 mths ago
      More wasted tax dollars..... for something that has no purpose... other than to waste more money...
    • True
      True  •  Brunswick, Maine  •  3 mths ago
      nasa is a total waste of money---its must be shut down
    • WAYNE
      WAYNE  •  Cleveland, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      I dont like this dark mapping stuff! did you ever try and read a map in a car when it was dark!!!!!!!!!!
    • John
      John  •  Cicero, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      More money down a dark hole....Hmmm Interesting.. Give me 4 million so I can disappear in a dark matter of speaking.
    • uncommon_otaku
      uncommon_otaku  •  3 mths ago
      The EU will be bankrupt long before they get the groundwork done.
    • rich
      rich  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 mths ago
      They should respell the anagram to read "WEFIRST". ;-)
    • george
      george  •  3 mths ago
      Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me. Give me money and we may launch in 6-10n yrs. You cant tyrust the french.
    • nevermind
      nevermind  •  3 mths ago
      a Dark Matter? isn't it what our Congress is dealing with every day?
     Post a comment
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