The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Documentary Project (working title) will follow the people building the NSF- and DOE-funded Rubin Observatory during construction and into its ten-year primary scientific mission. This is a critical period in the building of the observatory (formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, LSST). This award bridges an unfortunate gap, allowing the filmmaker to start essential filming while working to raise full production financing, including possible future seed funding from NSF. It reinforces support from within the Rubin team, from the American Institute of Physics, Cambridge and Oxford universities (UK), and from the private sector. The time-critical events include visits to the project by the NSF Director and the DOE Under-Secretary for Science, a visit by French contributors, and major meetings for the Data Management Leadership team, for the Operations Team, and to discuss commissioning.
This long-term documentary project will capture the human drama of creating a one-of-a-kind system for scientific exploration, and will further NSF?s mission to broaden participation in STEM fields, foster a better understanding of science and the scientific process, and ensure everyone an opportunity to participate in and contribute to the research enterprise.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
