Pending approval of a bill passed in congressional conference Tuesday, UW-Madison is slated to receive $15 million in federal funding for the first phase of a telescope program called Project Ice Cube.
The Antarctica-based neutrino telescope could lead to a more complete understanding of the formation of Earth and the history of the universe.
Tom Powell-Bullock, spokesperson for Ice Cube proponent U.S. Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said receiving $15 million for a scientific study is remarkable, considering the Bush administration included little money in the budget for such projects.
This year Bush froze the level of money allotted for scientific ventures.
“I am especially pleased right now because the Bush administration zeroed out science budgets,” Powell-Bullock said. “Receiving these funds is phenomenal.”
Ice Cube is a subatomic-particle telescope designed to be implanted one mile below the South Pole ice. The system will measure and chart the path of neutrinos, the smallest particles of matter, as they pass from space through the earth.
“This is a remarkable shot in the arm,” UW physics professor Robert Morse told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “This is the real beginning of high-energy neutrino astronomy. It will probably allow us to look back to the earliest formation of stars [more than 14 billion years ago.]”
Neutrinos are invisible, uncharged, have virtually no mass and can travel cosmological distances. In contrast to visible light or other kinds of radiation, neutrinos can pass unhindered through stars, vast magnetic fields and entire galaxies.
Since neutrinos can and do skip through the Earth continuously, scientists have decided to use the Earth to filter out other, confusing high-energy events. The Earth between the telescope at the South Pole and the northern sky filters out everything but neutrinos. Ice is the medium of choice for this kind of detection.
An existing neutrino detector, the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector, or AMANDA, is already being used by UW researchers and has detected neutrinos.
However, Ice Cube will be 50 times larger. The funding granted by the government will help to extend AMANDA’s benefits.
Ice Cube, with a total price tag of $150 million, should be completed over the next seven years. The initial $15 million granted was included in a fiscal year 2002 Veterans Administration-Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that also provides funding for the National Science Foundation.
The bill passed through a congressional conference Tuesday and is expected to gain approval from the full House of Representatives, Senate and President Bush.
Obey and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., are dedicated to gaining support for the project.
“Ice Cube will be a source of state pride,” Powell-Bullock said.
Powell-Bullock said it is important to start the project now instead of delaying the plans for a year. He also said he feared delaying Ice Cube would lead to other universities and research teams surpassing UW in neutrino studies.
“UW is currently in the lead. It is important to do it now instead of delaying it; this will allow UW to be on the forefront,” Powell-Bullock said. “[Delaying the project] would allow other nations around the world to steal the ball.”
Baldwin worked closely with Obey in overseeing the approval for Ice Cube. Like Obey, Baldwin said neutrino research will add character to UW.
“It’s in the interest of the international reputation of the university,” Baldwin spokesperson Jerilyn Goodman said. “This is a world-class university. It’s because of projects like this we are able to demonstrate our leadership abilities.”
UW-Madison was the second-largest recipient of National Science Foundation funding in the Big Ten, the sixth largest among universities, and the ninth largest overall.
