SMART will focus on exoplanet research and education. The observatory can be operated during the Arctic winter, uninterrupted by daylight, and possibly for solar viewing during Arctic summer. SMART data will be sent to the SETI Institute and CSM’s Observatory, for astronomy students to analyze and use in the classroom.
During yearly visits, a CSM intern will help maintain and upgrade the observatory, and participate in research projects at Mars Institute’s Haughton Mars Project Research Station (HMPRS).
College of San Mateo student, San Mateo County Astronomical Society member, and Mars Institute intern Luis Alvarez (right) with Dr. Pascal Lee, planetary scientist at the Mars Institute and the SETI Institute, and director of the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) holding the SMART (San Mateo Arctic Research Telescope) project's banner in front of the HMP's Moon-1 Humvee Rover on Devon Island, High Arctic. The Moon-1 recently completed the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition and reached the HMP Research Station via Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, where the SMART will be established. (Photo Mars Institute/Haughton-Mars Project/H. Bortman)
