【Text by Observers Network, Chen Sijia】After President Trump took office, the United States has drastically cut research funding, which has raised concerns among the American scientific community. According to a report by Bloomberg News on September 2, astronomers warned that Trump's plan to cut the budget of the National Science Foundation (NSF) could negatively impact the operation of the Rubin Observatory funded by the United States and cause other astronomical telescope projects to stall.

American astronomers pointed out that China has built the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, is building a radio telescope in Argentina, and plans to build an observatory in Chile, indicating that China has the capability to quickly catch up with the United States in the field of astronomical telescopes. They believe that Trump's continuous cuts to U.S. research project funding may give China an opportunity to overtake.

The Rubin Observatory is located on the Pachón Hill in Chile, named after the late American astronomer Vera Rubin, and is jointly funded by the NSF and the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The report stated that the NSF has invested nearly $600 million in the construction of the Rubin Observatory, while the U.S. Department of Energy invested about $320 million, and it is estimated that the observatory will require an annual expenditure of $80 million once it becomes operational.

The Rubin Observatory is currently in the testing phase and is scheduled to start full operations in October. During the trial operation phase, the observatory has already demonstrated strong observational capabilities. Bloomberg noted that other telescopes around the world discover about 20,000 asteroids each year, while the Rubin Observatory discovered more than 2,000 celestial bodies during a one-week trial run in June.

The Rubin Observatory previously estimated that the amount of data collected in its first year would exceed the total data collected by all other optical observatories combined.

The Rubin Observatory in Chile, Rubin Observatory Website

But one observatory is not enough to complete all tasks. Although the Rubin Observatory's wide-field telescope can search for celestial bodies, researchers need another tool to study celestial bodies in depth, search for signs of life in other galaxies, and observe the process of galaxy formation. For this purpose, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) project is being constructed about 130 kilometers north of the Rubin Observatory.

The GMT project is still in its early stages, and most of the initial $1 billion construction funds are provided by private partners, including universities such as Harvard University, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Arizona. It is expected that the NSF will need to provide an additional $1.3 billion to ensure the completion and operation of the GMT before 2035.

However, after Trump decided to cut U.S. research funding, American astronomers are worried that the construction and operation of the Rubin Observatory and the GMT project will be affected, and even the GMT project may be stalled. Staff at the Rubin Observatory have also started worrying that the operating funds for the facility may not be secured.

Construction site of the Giant Magellan Telescope, Giant Magellan Telescope Project Website

Bloomberg reported that the union representing NSF employees disclosed that the number of employees at the agency has decreased from 1,800 to 1,100. The Trump administration also asked them to move out of their headquarters in Virginia to make space for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Trump administration's 2026 fiscal year budget proposal also cut more than half the funding for the agency, providing only $3.9 billion in funding.

Jesus Soriano, head of the NSF union branch, said that the staff reduction has made the NSF "functionally dysfunctional," stating, "Every department of the NSF has been disrupted, and there is a lot of uncertainty."

However, an NSF spokesperson downplayed the impact of the budget cuts, saying that new work methods are being introduced, clear priorities are being set, and partnerships are being strengthened, and the agency will continue to support the scientific endeavors of the United States. The spokesperson also said, "The NSF has received assurances that the final design phase of the GMT project can be completed without additional NSF investment. Advancing to the final design phase does not mean that the NSF must fund the construction, nor does it mean that the agency has an obligation to provide further funding."

However, some analysts point out that many U.S. researchers' projects depend on funding from agencies like the NSF, and reduced research budgets have led to a decrease in the number of graduate students enrolled at some U.S. universities. For example, Mark Devlin, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Pennsylvania, revealed that the university did not admit any new graduate students in astronomy this year.

American scientists are concerned that without the participation of young researchers, senior astronomers will find it difficult to fully utilize the equipment at the Rubin Observatory. Devlin stated, "If there are no graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to help analyze the data, what's the point of providing this data? This situation is occurring across the United States, so we have already seen the impact."

Sudip Parikh, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said, "We really face the risk of losing our leadership in astronomy and astrophysics. Federal investments provide the light and heat that make everything run."

American astronomers also believe that the U.S. government's reduction of support for the Rubin Observatory and the GMT project may allow other countries to take the lead in the scientific achievements of the next generation of astronomical telescopes. They pointed out that China has already begun constructing the China-Armenia Cooperation 40-meter Radio Telescope (CART) project in Argentina and plans to build a new optical telescope project in Chile, which may surpass the United States.

Rebecca Bernstein, chief scientist of the GMT project, said that China has built the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, indicating that China has the ability to quickly catch up with the United States. "If the United States cannot build the GMT to study the findings of the Rubin Observatory, then what you do is just find celestial bodies and hand them over to others," she said.

William O’Mullane, deputy project manager of the Rubin Observatory, pointed out that the U.S. government is cutting research funding while trying to position the United States as "a pioneer in scientific research," which is confusing. "These two things cannot be done simultaneously," he said.

This article is an exclusive article by Observers Network. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545496173180649984/

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