Good Seeing: Best Practices for Sustainable Operations at the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site

Lisa Rand ; Dave Baiocchi

RAND Corporation

RAND Corporation

关键词: Space Science and Technology;    Military Transformation;    Astronomy;    Hawaii;    United States Air Force;    Military Facilities;   

DOI  :  10.7249/RR1097
ISBN  :  9780833091703
RP-ID  :  RR-1097-AF

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: RAND Corporation Published Research

【 摘 要 】

The Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS), located at the summit of Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui, is a major site of U.S. space surveillance activity. Operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), AMOS is the only Department of Defense site capable of providing visible and infrared spectrum images of space objects passing over the Pacific Ocean — a crucial capability for U.S. space situational awareness. AMOS's mission includes both space observing operations and research and development. The three optical telescopes operated at the facility each have distinctive capabilities that contribute to the overall functionality of the site. This report delineates a framework that RAND developed to identify facilities that have attributes in common with AMOS and presents the results of a comprehensive survey of people working at those facilities. It then identifies best practices implemented at those institutions in order to provide suggestions for how AFRL might further streamline its operations and minimize costs, given the Air Force's desire to lower its total operating costs at AMOS.