SRI International (SRI) teams with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and Universidad Metropolitana (UMET) to form the Arecibo Management Partners (AMP) to manage and operate the Arecibo Observatory (AO). AMP will operate on-site at AO as a unified organization reporting to Director Robert Kerr. USRA brings expertise in astronomy and planetary science, while UMET brings expertise in education, public outreach, and facilities management. UMET's large employee base and extensive on-island resources will provide career paths and employment opportunities for new and existing AO staff.
Twenty-seven supporting institutions will collaborate with AMP to advance a common vision of AO's future in science and education. In addition to these academic institutions, AMP will partner with the Puerto Rico Department of Education and two Puerto Rican economic development agencies. Through its facility development plan, AMP will provide broad technical, equipment, and logistic resources to AO's science and education missions. This includes expanding the AO user base and creating staffing resources and professional development opportunities for AO staff.
AMP's plan for radio astronomy will focus on science endorsed by the Decadal Survey process: gravitational-wave astronomy through pulsar timing, studies of cosmic structure formation and galactic energetics through neutral-hydrogen surveys and molecular-line spectroscopy, and probes of star formation and collapse through Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). The planetary radar plan provides invaluable characterization of near-Earth object orbits and physical properties, for mitigation of both potential impact hazards and risks to future robotic and crewed missions. The planetary radar program will also map planets and satellites to uncover surface features, sub-surface geologies, and interior structures. AMP's space and atmospheric sciences plan will integrate the NSF Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR), National Space Weather, and Climate Change communities as primary stakeholders, and exploit important new programs in ionospheric interactions and conjugate studies. The plans for SAS development include improved 430 MHz transmitter reliability via installation of a solid-state modulator, installation of a magnetic conjugate Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR), instrument automation and remote control, new helium and metal resonant lidars, a new infrared camera in the optics lab, and a phased-array radar surrounding the AO telescope.
The proposed management plan weaves AO into the fabric of scientific, educational, and economic development in Puerto Rico. The educational plan will reinstitute a program to bring 42,000 K-12 students to AO for tours and workshops emphasizing STEM education, create a summer research academy for high-school students, train 20 STEM high-school teachers each year, maintain the existing REU program, create undergraduate intern positions in all aspects of AO operations, and, for the first time, create PhD opportunities for Hispanic students with mainland universities. The outreach plan will update the Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor Center to expand the visitor experience with tours of the entire site. Virtual tours of AO and our universe will be developed on an interactive video gaming platform for distribution world-wide. AMP will enhance technical literacy for economic development in Puerto Rico and to train a new generation of astronomers and space scientists from a traditionally underrepresented Hispanic population.
