Ground‐based astronomy

Late in 1962, the National Academy of Sciences established a panel of leading astronomers under the chairmanship of Albert E. Whitford, director of the University of California's Lick Observatory, to estimate the need for major new ground‐based facilities for both optical and radio astronomy in the United States during the coming decade. The mission of the Panel on Astronomical Facilities, which was organized under the Academy's Committee on Science and Public Policy, was to recommend guiding principles and estimates of cost in order that federal funds might be employed with maximum efficiency in promoting the advancement of astronomy.