全球智库信息集成服务系统

• Wide-field and narrow-field mounts are run differently. These differences can affect staffing, time management for operations, engineering, maintenance, and the ways in which the collected data can be used.
• Some facilities have lowered their overhead by expanding remote observation.
• Greater investment in messaging and outreach can lead to wider internal and external support — both financial and cultural.
• Maintaining a flexible configuration can raise the value proposition of an observatory but requires robust scheduling capability and a change of mindset.
• Data storage and sharing can greatly extend the value and impact of data collected during scheduled observations.

The Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS), located at the summit of Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui, is a major site of U.S. space surveillance activity. Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), AMOS is the only Department of Defense site capable of providing visible and infrared spectrum images of space objects passing over the Pacific Ocean — a crucial capability for U.S. space situational awareness. AMOS's mission includes both space observing operations and research and development. The three optical telescopes operated at the facility each have distinctive capabilities that contribute to the overall functionality of the site. This report delineates a framework that RAND developed to identify facilities that have attributes in common with AMOS and presents the results of a comprehensive survey of people working at those facilities. It then identifies best practices implemented at those institutions in order to provide suggestions for how AFRL might further streamline its operations and minimize costs, given the Air Force's desire to lower its total operating costs at AMOS.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Objectives and Methods

• Chapter Three

  Key Findings

• Chapter Four

  Implications of Key Findings for AMOS

• Appendix A

  Overview of Interview Insights

• Appendix B

  University of Hawaii Telescope Time Allotments

• Appendix C

  Organizations That Contributed to This Research