Reports of the Museums and Research Institutes 



35 



Steven Monfort directs the effort, known as ELIPSE (Envi- 

 ronmental Latino Initiative Promoting Science Education). 

 This project has forged a network between Smithsonian 

 researchers and several Southern Florida organizations — the 

 Zoological Society of Florida, the Miami Museum of Science 

 and the Miami-Dade County Public School system. 



Hsing-Hsing's Health 



Hsing-Hsing, the Zoo's giant panda, experienced serious 

 health problems during the spring. For several years he re- 

 sponded to treatment for arthritis, but this spring, he 

 experienced lethargy and appetite loss. When veterinarians 

 anaesthetized him, the exam revealed incurable progressive 

 kidney dysfunction. Hsing has responded to medication, but 

 his long-term prognosis is not good. 



Panda Negotiations 



Ben Beck, Devra Kleiman, and Lisa Stevens, three Zoo 

 staffers with long-term panda involvement, traveled to 

 China in late June to discuss details of an agreement that 

 might bring new pandas to the Zoo. Zoo staff hope the Chi- 

 nese will consider the Zoo's proposal because of its 

 contributions to medical, behavioral, nutritional, and demo- 

 graphic wild panda studies. As of late August, the request is 

 still under negoriation. 



Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 



Irwin I. Shapiro, Director 



Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the scientific 

 staff at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

 carries out a wide variety of research programs in astronomy 

 and astrophysics, Earth and space science, and science 

 education in close collaboration with the Harvard College 

 Observatory (HCO). The combined staff now numbers 

 nearly 300 scientists, with many holding joint appoint- 

 ments. Together, the two observatories form the Harvard- 

 Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) to coordinate 

 related activities under a single director. 



Research is organized in seven divisions, with an addi- 

 tional department devoted to science education. And, while 

 both observatories retain their separate identities, the com- 

 bined CfA staff actively cooperates, conducting programs of 

 study among the following divisions and department: 

 Atomic and Molecular Physics, High Energy Astrophysics, 

 Optical and Infrared Astronomy, Planetary Sciences, Radio 

 and Geoastronomy, Solar and Stellar Physics, Theoretical As- 

 trophysics, and Science Education. 



Facilities 



Observational facilities include the multipurpose Fred 

 Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) on Mt. Hopkins in 

 Arizona and the Oak Ridge Observatory in Massachusetts. 



The major instrument on Mt. Hopkins is the multiple mir- 

 ror telescope (MMT), operated jointly with the University of 

 Arizona. Also located at the FLWO are a 10-m-diameter re- 

 flector to detect gamma rays, a 1.2-m imaging 

 optical/infrared telescope, and a 1.5-m spectroscopic tele- 

 scope; it also houses a 1.3-m optical telescope, operated by 

 the University of Massachusetts and other partners, and an 

 optical and infrared interferometer (IOTA), built in collabo- 

 ration with the universities of Massachusetts and Wyoming 

 and MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. 



Major support facilities in Cambridge include a panoply 

 of computers connected by a local area network, a central en- 

 gineering department, a machine shop, a large astronomical 

 library, design and drafting capability, and in-house printing 

 and publishing services. 



Special laboratories are maintained for the petrologic and 

 mineralogic studies of meteorites and lunar samples, for the 

 spectroscopy of atoms and molecules, and for the develop- 

 ment of instrumentation, including advanced electronic 

 detectors and atomic maser clocks. Major research endeavors 

 include the development of a Submillimeter Array (SMA) (a 

 joint project with the Institute of Astronomy and Astro- 

 physics of Taiwan's Academia Sinica) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, 

 and the conversion of the MMT to a single-mirror telescope 

 6.5 m in diameter. 



SAO instrumentation is also operating in space. For exam- 

 ple, the ultraviolet coronagraph spectrometer (UVCS) 

 conducts ongoing studies of the Sun's corona, one of a suite 

 of experiments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observa- 

 tory (SOHO) spacecraft launched in 1995. In addition, 

 development of new instrumentation for other space mis- 

 sions led to two successful launches during the year — the 

 Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) in Decem- 

 ber and, in July, a similar successful launch and deployment 

 of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. 



Further, the Science Education Department conducts sev- 

 eral programs designed to improve the teaching of 

 precollege science and mathematics, partly through the use 

 of examples from astronomy. These programs include the de- 

 velopment of curriculum materials and videos, and the 

 training of precollege educators. 



Numerous facilities serving the general astronomical com- 

 munity are located at the CfA in Cambridge as well. The 

 Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics, es- 

 tablished in 1988 to attact and encourage talented graduate 

 students to enter this field, emphasizes study of fundamental 

 questions in atomic and molecular physics. Other services 

 include the International Astronomical Union's Central Bu- 

 reau for Astronomical Telegrams and the Minor Planet 

 Center, both of which disseminate information on astronom- 

 ical discoveries worldwide. The gateway for SIMBAD, an 

 international astronomical computer database, is also located 

 at the Cambridge site, as is Harvard's extensive collection of 

 astronomical photographic plates, the largest in the world. 

 In addition, on behalf of NASA, SAO operates the astro- 

 physics data system (ADS), as well as the flight control 

 center for AXAF and the AXAF Science Center — now re- 

 named the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Chandra 



