NASA Awards New Cooperative Agreement to W. M. Keck Observatory W. M. Keck Observatory
http://www.keckobservatory.org/recent/entry/NASA_Agreement
NASA has awarded a five-year Cooperative Agreement with the California Association for Research in Astronomy to continue the science program at the W. M. Keck Obs.
“The Keck Observatory has unique, world-class capabilities that we consider essential to realize the scientific potential of many NASA missions, both ongoing and planned,”
said Paul Hertz, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. “NASA’s continuing partnership with Keck will ensure that astronomers and planetary scientists
can carry out important ground-based observations necessary for the success of NASA missions and their scientific objectives.”
The Keck Observatory is privately owned; in 1994 NASA contributed to the observatory and has been a partner ever since.
Under the new agreement, which takes effect March 1, 2018 through February 28, 2023, Keck Observatory will support upcoming NASA missions, including:
James Webb Space Telescope
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST)
Euclid (ESA)
Mars 2020
Explorers Program: Medium-Class Explorers (MIDEX), Small Explorers (SMEX)
Planetary Missions: Discovery, New Frontiers
