ber 2011 to work on conceptual designs for
six months. At this stage, we are exploring
both fiber-fed, bench-mounted, and Cassegrain-mounted designs.
on a multi-wavelength, medium-resolution
spectroscope (so-called the Gemini InfraRed
Optical Spectrometer (GIROS)) as part of this
exploration process.
An internal and external committee will hold
a conceptual design review at the end of May.
We expect this to lead to a down-select of a
single team to carry on with the rest of the
design and building of GHOS. If, however, the
studies reveal that it’s simply not practical to
build such an instrument for Gemini (a long
fiber feed sacrificing blue throughput, or a
Cassegrain instrument needing to overcome
flexure), we may cancel GHOS altogether. Additionally, if two teams offer compelling evidence that the instrument can be built, but
both teams need further development, we
may continue the competition into the preliminary design stage. We hope to receive a
finished GHOS by mid-2015, but a more definitive schedule will have to await the results
of the current design studies.
Our long-range plan is an extremely important activity to keep Gemini competitive, and
at the same time complementary, with other
existing facilities. It is also a challenging process to map out all the variables and scenarios
in creating such a bright future. We anticipate
receiving enough feedback from the community, in particular at the GSM in July, to optimize the process and outcome. In parallel, we
are developing new communication tools to
provide the user community with more regular (quarterly) updates and news which will be
distributed through our National Gemini Offices. We encourage you to contact us if you
have questions.
As part of defining the Gemini instrumentation long-range plan, we have initiated
several actions jointly with our Science and
Technology Advisory Committee (see article
on “STAC” in this issue). First, we have defined
a proper process with inputs, steps, and outputs, which we’ve linked to various events
happening this year: For example, the Gemini
North Adaptive Optics workshop in June, and
the Gemini Science Meeting (GSM) in July,
as well as other regular governance bodies
meetings. The goal is to define the scientific
capabilities needed by the ob