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ALMA Groundbreaking Ceremony Presentations
Wayne Van Citters, NSF Division of Astronomical Sciences Director
It is a great personal pleasure for me to be here with friends from Chile,
Europe, North America and Japan at this historic occasion. As I was
thinking about this ceremony on the plane flight down to Chile, it
reminded me of the first site visit I held on coming to NSF almost 25
years ago. We were reviewing the fledgling millimeter interferometer built
by Caltech in the Owens Valley of California. One of the major points of
discussion at the time was whether it was scientifically cost effective to
expand the baseline (the distance between the two antennas) from 50 meters
to 100 meters. There was a substantial body of thought that this would not
be worthwhile, for after all, surely there would not be any source that
would be bright enough on such small scales to be detected. Today we break
ground for a millimeter interferometer that will have baselines measured
in thousands of meters.
Very soon the question turned to one of whether it was worthwhile to use
millimeter telescopes, and millimeter interferometers in particular, to
observe molecular gas in external galaxies. Surely there would not be any
detail visible at the necessary brightness. Today we eagerly await ALMA's
ability to map molecular gas in the first generation of galaxies; this gas
already contains elements heavier than hydrogen that were forged in the
first generations of stars to form, less than a billion years after the
origin of time itself.
How far we have come in our understanding, our ambition, our sheer
scientific audacity in less than one professional lifetime.
The scientific promise of ALMA is compelling and its contributions to our
comprehension of the universe and our place in it will be profound. As
Rita noted in her remarks, the questions to which we seek answers
transcend national boundaries and cultural divides. So in addition to
breaking ground for a powerful scientific instrument today, let us also
pledge to respond to a powerful challenge put to the American Astronomical
Society by Arthur Carty last year in Nashville. Let the ALMA partnership
use the universal appeal of astronomy to bind us together across oceans
and between continents.
I believe that a world pursuing a global strategy to discover how the
beauty that surrounds us today came to be, including we who are enjoying
it, that world must ultimately put aside suspicion, hatred, racism and
greed. Let us dedicate ALMA as an instrument of understanding, not only of
scientific fact but also of ourselves. Through ALMA let us leave a legacy
of mutual respect, of free and open inquiry, and of love of the truth to
our children - indeed to the children of the world community.
Modified on Monday, 05-Jan-2004 12:28:51 EST
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