Director’s News

As the calendar year closes and I look back on the year, three exciting new initiatives at Green Bank really catch my attention. LASSI, a new project funded through the NSF MSIP program, will place a terrestrial laser scanner on the GBT to provide near-real time surface corrections. By project completion in 2022, LASSI will allow for high frequency operations during the daytime, and increase the available high frequency hours on the GBT by 1,000. We are also well into the design phase of a new wideband receiver for the GBT. Funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the 0.6 – 2.8 GHz system will double the sensitivity of the GBT for most pulsar timing experiments and will provide wide spectral coverage for other scientific pursuits. Finally, the kick-off meeting for the new First2 STEM Student Success Alliance launched just last week. This alliance, funded by the NSF INCLUDES initiative and led by Green Bank, is comprised of many different organizations across the state of West Virginia and is focused on attracting and retaining rural, first generation students attending West Virginia colleges and universities.