Ground-Based Astronomical Instrumentation Development in the United States: A White Paper on the Challenges Faced by the US Community

TL;DR

This white paper discusses the challenges faced by the US astronomical instrumentation community in developing instruments for extremely large telescopes, highlighting technical, funding, and personnel issues and comparing US efforts with Europe.

Contribution

It provides an overview of current US instrumentation capabilities, challenges, and recommendations to strengthen the community for future large telescope projects.

Findings

US community faces significant technical and funding challenges

European model of coordinated instrument development is more effective

US needs to enhance talent, facilities, and resources for ELT instrumentation

Abstract

This invited white paper, submitted to the National Science Foundation in January of 2020, discusses the current challenges faced by the United States astronomical instrumentation community in the era of extremely large telescopes. Some details may have changed since submission, but the basic tenets are still very much valid. The paper summarizes the technical, funding, and personnel challenges the US community faces, provides an informal census of current instrumentation groups in the US, and compares the state-of-affairs in the US with that of the European community, which builds astronomical instruments from consortia of large hard-money funded instrument centers in a coordinated fashion. With the recent release of the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 (Astro2020), it is clear that strong community support exists for this next generation of large telescopes in the US. Is the US ready? Is there sufficient talent, facilities, and resources in the community today to meet the challenge of developing the complex suite of instruments envisioned for two US ELTs? These questions are addressed, along with thoughts on how the National Science Foundation can help build a more viable and stable instrumentation program in the US. These thoughts are intended to serve as a starting point for a broader discussion, with the end goal being a plan that puts the US astronomical instrumentation community on solid footing and poised to take on the challenges presented by the ambitious goals we have set in the era of ELTs.