NASA is continuing its partnership with the W.M. Keck Observatory with a new five-year cooperative agreement.
NASA is continuing its partnership with the W.M. Keck Observatory with a new five-year cooperative agreement.
Under the agreement, which takes effect March 1, Keck will support next-generation space-based missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope set to launch next year.
“The Keck Observatory has unique, world-class capabilities that we consider essential to realize the scientific potential of many NASA missions, both ongoing and planned,” said Paul Hertz, NASA’s astrophysics division director, in a statement. “NASA’s continuing partnership with Keck will ensure that astronomers and planetary scientists can carry out important ground-based observations necessary for the success of NASA missions and their scientific objectives.”
Keck, which operates twin 10-meter telescopes atop Mauna Kea, said the agreement will allow it to continue research with NASA on the quest for habitable Earth-like exoplanets, understanding dark energy and dark matter, finding microbial life on Mars, and supporting future planetary missions, such as a visit to Jupiter’s moon Europa.