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Adaptive optics is the most revolutionary breakthrough in astronomy
since Galileo pointed his telescope skyward four hundred years ago.
It is critical technology that will enable astronomers to answer
challenging questions about the universe.
Over the last four decades, a formidable and persistent team of
scientists from the Air Force Research Laboratory, MIT/Lincoln
Laboratory, and private contractors led the way in achieving
groundbreaking advances in adaptive optics. They demonstrated laser
guide star techniques and made adaptive optics practical on large
telescopes. The military aggressively pursued the development of
adaptive optics for two reasons--imaging for space situational
awareness and laser weapons. A significant part of this research
occurred at the Starfire Optical Range in New Mexico and the Maui
optical site in Hawaii. The program remained classified during the
1970s and 1980s, but the government declassified it in the early
1990s, enabling significant technology transfer to the astronomy
community.
Robert Duffner has compiled a unique history of the invention of
laser guide stars and other contributions to adaptive optics made
by the Department of Defense. He had access to a large collection
of primary source material housed in the offices of government
scientists and in the Research Laboratory's archives at Kirtland
Air Force Base, Albuquerque. Duffner also interviewed seventy-one
prominent scientists who played key roles advancing adaptive optics
research.
The thought of consolidating laboratories was not new. Over the
last decade, this idea had grown out of the Packard Commission 's
blue-ribbon study (begun in 1985) that looked at ways to operate
the Department of Defense (DOD) in a more efficient and economical
manner. David Packard, a former undersecretary of defense, headed a
high-level team of investigators that focused on four core areas
that were candidates for change: national security planning and
budgeting, military organization and command, acquisition
organization and procedures, and government-industry
accountability. Packard 's final report, A Quest for Excellence
(released in June 1986), proposed sweeping reforms, including
substantial personnel reductions, to improve efficiency and save
money in DOD. President Ronald Reagan directed implementation of
the Packard Commission 's recommendations in National Security
Decision Directive (NSDD) 219, issued on 1 April 1986. The model
acquisition-reform plan called for the establishment of "strong
centralized policies through highly decentralized management
structures."
Robert W. Duffner's Science and Technology: The Making of the Air
Force Research Laboratory addresses the far-reaching implications
of science and technology by recounting the events that led to the
creation of a single Air Force laboratory. This engaging story of
how the Air Force moved from 13 separate labs to one consolidated
lab reflects that service's determination to reinvigorate its
science and technology infrastructure and thereby strengthen the
nation's defense for the twenty-first century. Part one considers
why the Air Force decided to consolidate its far-flung science and
technology enterprise into one lab, while part two relates how the
service implemented the new lab. Dr. Duffner offers a unique
perspective on a watershed event in the life of the United States
Air Force.
Robert W. Duffner's Science and Technology: The Making of the Air
Force Research Laboratory addresses the far-reaching implications
of science and technology by recounting the events that led to the
creation of a single Air Force laboratory. This engaging story of
how the Air Force moved from 13 separate labs to one consolidated
lab reflects that service's determination to reinvigorate its
science and technology infrastructure and thereby strengthen the
nation's defense for the twenty-first century. Part one considers
why the Air Force decided to consolidate its far-flung science and
technology enterprise into one lab, while part two relates how the
service implemented the new lab. Dr. Duffner offers a unique
perspective on a watershed event in the life of the United States
Air Force.
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