Harvard-MIT Plan Center For Satellite Control

Scientists at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and MIT are planning a multi-million dollar facility to transmit satellite information as part of a drive to make Cambridge a national center for astrological study.

The project, still in the preliminary stages, will provide a base for research by professors, graduate students, as well as undergraduates at both institutions.

The facility will gather data from the new $1 billion space satellite telescope which the Center for Astrophysics is developing in conjunction with NASA.

Aside from keeping Harvard and MIT astronomers in close touch with satellite information. the project is also intended to increase operation efficiency of the satellite, which will begin orbiting the earth in 1990.

"It's not healthy for NASA to run this They're too big and [their satellite operation projects] aren't run by dedicated scientists who want to get the job done," said Claude R. Canizares '67 of MIT's Center for Space Research.

The data collection center is also aimed at "bringing people from all over the world" to the facility as well as extending the Harvard and MIT stronghold in astronomical studies, he added.

Other Projects

The space satellite telescope--known as the Advanced X-Ray Astronomy Facility (AXAF)--is one example of Harvard and MIT's move to the forefront of astronomical study. Other projects have included the Einstein Observatory, the less powerful prototype of the current satellite which orbited the earth from 1978-1981, and the X-Ray Timing Explorer, an MIT operated satellite.

"It's only logical that we would take a leading role in funnelling the demands and desires of the community, and then making the results available," said MIT's Canizares, who is one of the project's originators.

Before the center is built, however, NASA as well as University administrators must approve the plans.'

While a NASA official said that he could not speculate on the agency's future commitments, he added that Harvard and MIT have made large contributions to NASA programs and have gained a significant experience through previous projects.

Discussions at the planning level have been taking place for about a year, and Associate Director of the Center for Astrophysics Harvey D. Tananbaum said that official approval is still "a couple of years away"

Plans

Preliminary plans for the center include transmitting commands to and receiving data from AXAF and other satellites It would also disseminate the information to other centers of astronomical study throughout the country and operate instruments on the satellite "Scientists from all over the world would have access to it, "but we'll have an edge on them," Canizares said.

"By having it close to the users of the satellites, we could run it for less than people who don't know exactly what they're doing and have to follow instructions from a piece of paper," Canizares said

AXAF, an orbital observatory for detailed long range study of X-ray emissions in space. should be under construction by 1987 and is expected to be operational from 1990 to 2005. Tananbaum said

Aside from focusing on galaxies never before examined, the 10-ton, 45-ft-long satellite will travel into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle to an altitude of about 288 miles The high resolution telescope will examine, among other phenomena, quasars, black holes, super novae, and galaxies yet unexplored.

"No matter what happens, there will be a lot of action here, in the '80s and '90s," Canizares added.