PS2: Managing the next step in the Pan-STARRS wide field survey system

TL;DR

This paper discusses management strategies and lessons learned from the Pan-STARRS PS1 survey to inform the development and planning of the next phase, PS2, emphasizing technical, financial, and risk management aspects.

Contribution

It provides a detailed management plan for PS2 based on lessons from PS1, focusing on technical development, scheduling, and risk mitigation for a distributed aperture survey system.

Findings

Lessons learned from PS1 management applied to PS2

Comprehensive management plan developed for PS2

Current status and schedule of PS2 presented

Abstract

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) is unique among the existing or planned major ground-based optical survey systems as the only "distributed aperture" system. The concept of increasing system \'etendue by replicating small telescopes and digital cameras presents both management opportunities and challenges. The focus in this paper is on management lessons learned from PS1, and how those have been used to form the management plan for PS2. The management plan components emphasized here include technical development, financial and schedule planning, and critical path and risk management. Finally, the status and schedule for PS2 are presented.