spacetoday.net: Microsoft money to support telescope development

Posted: Sat, Jan 5, 2008, 10:21 AM ET (1521 GMT)
LSST illustration (LSST)

The co-founder of Microsoft and a former company executive who flew in space last year contributed $30 million to a major new telescope project this week. Bill Gates and Charles Simonyi will provide the money to enable the construction of the three primary mirrors of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Simonyi, who flew to the ISS last year, will provide $20 million through his Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, while Gates will provide $10 million. The LSST, to be built on a Chilean mountaintop, will be the most powerful survey telescope in the world, supporting astronomers on research ranging from the discovery of near Earth asteroids to studies of dark matter and dark energy. The LSST, whose total cost is estimated to be $400 million, is scheduled to begin observations in 2014.