Hands off our telescopes

NASA shouldn’t monopolise US astronomy, a panel of top scientists has
unanimously recommended. To save money, President Bush proposed transferring
ground-based astronomy from the National Science Foundation to NASA (New
Scientist, 25 August, p 16). After several months studying the idea, the panel
concluded that the move would be counterproductive, says panel member Bob Gehrz
of University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “We concluded on all counts that it
just wouldn’t be a good idea,” he says. The panel called for the creation of an
advisory board to coordinate the activities of the two agencies.