Editing Great Observatories program (section)

== Origins of the Great Observatory program ==
The concept of a Great Observatory program was first proposed in the 1979 [[National Research Council (United States)|NRC]] report "A Strategy for Space Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 1980s".<ref name="NRC1979">{{cite book|url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12377/a-strategy-for-space-astronomy-and-astrophysics-for-the-1980s|title=A Strategy for Space Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 1980s|date=1979 |publisher=Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.|doi=10.17226/12377 |isbn=978-0-309-12341-9 }}</ref> This report laid the essential groundwork for the Great Observatories and was chaired by [[Peter Meyer (astrophysicist)|Peter Meyer]] (through June 1977) and then by [[Harlan James Smith|Harlan J. Smith]] (through publication). In the mid-1980s, it was further advanced by all of the astrophysics Division Directors at [[NASA Headquarters|NASA headquarters]], including Frank Martin and Charlie Pellerin. NASA's "Great Observatories" program used four separate satellites, each designed to cover a different part of the spectrum in ways which terrestrial systems could not. This perspective enabled the proposed X-ray and InfraRed observatories to be appropriately seen as a continuation of the astronomical program begun with Hubble and CGRO rather than competitors or replacements.<ref name="Stern">{{cite web|url=http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sun6new.htm|title=Seeing the Sun in a New Light|access-date=2007-12-07|last=Stern |first=David P.|date=2004-12-12|work=From Stargazers to Starships|publisher=NASA Goddard Space Flight Center}} {{PD-notice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Roman|first=Nancy Grace|title=Exploring the Universe: Space-Based Astronomy and Astrophysics|work=Exploring the Cosmos|publisher=NASA|year=2001|url=http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions/docs/Chap3-essay.PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050527000717/http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions/docs/Chap3-essay.PDF|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-05-27|access-date=2007-12-08}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> Two explanatory documents published by NASA and created for the NASA Astrophysics Division and the NASA Astrophysics Management Working Group laid out the rationale for the suite of observatories and questions that could be addressed across the spectrum.<ref name="Harwit&Neal1986">{{cite web|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19860015241/downloads/19860015241.pdf|title=The Great Observatories for Space Astrophysics|last1=Harwit|first1=Martin|last2=Neal|first2=Valerie|date=1986-01-09|work=NASA document number 21M585|publisher=NASA}}</ref><ref name="Harwit&Neal1991">{{cite web|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19920001848/downloads/19920001848.pdf|title=The Great Observatories for Space Astrophysics|last1=Harwit|first1=Martin|last2=Neal|first2=Valerie|date=1991-01-01|work=NASA document number NP-128|publisher=NASA}}</ref> They had an important role in the campaign to win and sustain approval for the four telescopes.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}