Science and state

This two-part interview with SLAC accelerator physicist John Rees is part of a series conducted as background research for the book Tunnel Visions, a history of the Superconducting Super Collider. In the first part, Rees recalls his work at the Cambridge Electron Accelerator and on projects at SLAC, as well as an experience working at the high-energy physics program office at the Atomic Energy Commission during the construction of Fermilab. He discusses in detail his exposure to project management and how bureaucracies operate. The conversation also covers his participation in the 1983 High Energy Physics Advisory Panel subpanel led by Stanley Wojcicki and his impressions of the aggressive cost estimates for the SSC that were floated at that time. It concludes with his work on pole-face windings for the SSC Central Design Group. The second part begins with Rees’s arrival as SSC project manager in 1992, replacing Paul Reardon, and he discusses his relationship with the project’s general manager, Ed Siskin, and the implementation of a project management control system. Rees also reflects on his relations with other key figures at the SSC project, including personnel assigned by the Department of Energy, and he offers his impressions of how the project was managed and its relations with Congress leading up to its cancellation.

Interview with Grant Tremblay, astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Tremblay recalls his childhood in Maine, his early interest in astronomy, and the formative experience of seeing a space shuttle launch. He discusses his undergraduate studies in physics and astronomy at University of Rochester. Tremblay then describes his time as a research assistant at the Space Telescope Science Institute before entering a PhD program at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he did thesis work on cool core clusters. Tremblay discusses his postdoctoral fellowship at the European Southern Observatory, as well as his time working under Meg Urry as a NASA Einstein Fellow at the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. He details his involvement with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory in addition to the Lynx X-Ray Observatory. Tremblay describes his role as vice-chair for NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee, his involvement in the American Astronomical Society, and the New Great Observatories Community Coalition which he founded in 2020. Tremblay also speaks about his involvement in space policy, issues around congressional support, and the importance of continued government investment in science. 

This interview with Quantum Economic Development Consortium (QED-C) Executive Director Celia Merzbacher is part of a series of one-hour interviews conducted at the 2024 Quantum World Congress. In it, Merzbacher recalls her father, physicist Eugen Merzbacher, and her own education in science at Brown University and Penn State University, as well as her research on glassy and optical materials at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Naval Research Laboratory. She recounts her move to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to lead the organization of the National Nanotechnology Initiative and her subsequent work with the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Discussing QED-C, which she joined in 2019, Merzbacher addresses the state and structure of the emerging quantum industry, the role of federal and state government in promoting the industry, QED-C’s specific activities, and the place of quantum technology in international relations. The interview concludes with a discussion of Merzbacher’s experience as executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology during the George W. Bush administration.

This is an interview with Edward Weiler, who served as chief scientist of the Hubble Space Telescope from 1979 to 1998, as NASA Associate Administrator for science activities from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2008 to 2011, and as director of the Goddard Space Flight Center from 2004 to 2008. The interview focuses primarily on his work relating to Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope. Subjects addressed include his work developing international collaboration, and he explains the value of his strong working relationship with David Southwood of the European Space Agency. Weiler details his involvement with the correction of the spherical aberration afflicting Hubble’s primary mirror. He highlights NASA Administrator Dan Goldin’s role in establishing the scope of the Webb telescope, and he offers his views on the project’s troubles and the 2010 review chaired by John Casani that diagnosed sources of its cost growth and schedule slippage. Weiler also recounts his motivations for retiring from NASA in 2011, his activities since then, and he expresses his perspective on matters such as human space flight, lunar exploration, and the value of international partnerships in space science.

Interview with Matt Mountain, President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and Telescope Scientist & Science Working Group member for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Mountain recounts growing up in the UK and his early interest in science. He reflects on his time at Imperial College London, where his interest in astronomy suited his background in physics and his work on the infrared. He describes drifting away from theoretical physics and moving towards building instruments, later building one of the first infrared spectrographs for his PhD dissertation. He recounts his recruitment to the Royal Observatory Edinburgh by the Astronomer Royal Malcolm Longair, where he would help build CGS4 for the UKIRT telescope. Mountain recalls working with Tim Hawarden on his idea of passive cooling, which would later be used JWST. He describes being appointed as the project scientist for the Gemini project, leading to his move to the U.S. He explains having to learn and understand the US political system in relation to science, particularly the way astronomy is funded. He credits his time in Edinburgh with teaching him the importance of effective communication between engineers and scientists, which would prove crucial for his role as Gemini director and later projects. Mountain discusses his later role as director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and the early conversations on a next generation space telescope. He details his role as telescope scientist for the Webb telescope and his perspective on international space science partnerships. He reflects on the budget concerns and schedule delays surrounding the Webb telescope and the later working conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Towards the end of the interview, Mountain discusses some of the science from JWST, his current role at AURA, and the future of astronomy.

In this interview, astronomer Peter Jakobsen discusses his involvement with the Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes during his life-long career at the European Space Agency (ESA). He recounts his early childhood growing up in Cincinnati and later returning to his hometown in Denmark, where he attended the University of Copenhagen. He reflects on his time at the Laboratoire d’Astronomie Spatiale in Marseille during his Master’s degree and his time at Berkeley working in the Space Astrophysics Group led by Stu Bowyer. Jakobsen discusses his job as Project Scientist for the European involvement in the Hubble Space Telescope, the development of ESA’s Faint Object Camera, and the discovery of the spherical aberration. He details his role in the development of COSTAR and Hubble’s repair missions. Jakobsen recalls being skeptical of the initial talks for the Next Generation Space Telescope, but later taking on a key role for the European side of the project. He also recalls the competition between the contractors working on the initial design phase for NIRSpec. Jakobsen gives an account of his last years at ESA and the conditions that led to his retirement from the agency in 2011. He gives his perspective on Webb’s launch and reflects on the budget and schedule delay concerns. He discusses his post-retirement technical work and the guaranteed observing time program for JWST. Towards the end of the interview, Jakobsen describes his current focus with NIRSpec and his reflections on the future of astronomy.

Interview with Loren Acton, American physicist and astronaut. Acton recounts his childhood in rural Montana and his decision to study engineering physics at Montana State University. He describes becoming interested in geophysics, leading him to pursue graduate school at the University of Colorado. Acton recalls his graduate work at the Lockheed Pao Alto Research Laboratory, working on his first solar x-ray experiment. He discusses his involvement in the astrogeophysics department at Colorado and his work on solar radiation satellites at the Naval Research Laboratory. Acton stayed at Lockheed upon completing his doctorate, and he describes his work on projects that employed instruments carried on rockets and satellites. He reflects on his exciting appointment as a payload specialist on the space shuttle, flying in 1985. Acton then turns to his time at Goddard Space Flight Center working on the Solar Max Mission, and he also discusses his collaboration with Japanese scientists on the Spacelab 2 mission. He discusses his return to Montana State University to help form the solar physics program. The interview concludes with Acton’s reflections on running for elected office and the role of scientists in politics. 

This interview with N. Douglas Pewitt is part of a series conducted during research for the book Tunnel Visions, a history of the Superconducting Super Collider. Pewitt recollects his education in particle physics and early work at the Center for Naval Analyses before taking on government roles with the White House Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Energy Office of Energy Research, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He reflects on the events leading to the termination of the Isabelle collider at Brookhaven National Lab, including OSTP Director Jay Keyworth’s work to line up opposition to the project within the White House. He also discusses his disagreements with Keyworth over the viability of the SSC project, his own doubts about the physics community’s and DOE’s ability to manage large-scale projects, and his involvement with the Reagan administration’s effort to reorganize DOE out of existence. Pewitt then recalls his later work with Universities Research Association to write the proposal to manage the SSC project, including an unsuccessful effort to bring Bell Labs in on the proposal and Martin Marietta’s decision not to bid. Pewitt also discusses his experiences working at the SSC Laboratory, including his efforts to implement a cost and schedule control system, difficulties with magnet design, the lab’s efforts to appoint a project manager, and his own brief service as acting project manager. He offers his views of Roy Schwitters’s leadership and Bob Hunter’s activities as director of the DOE Office of Energy Research, and he suggests the SSC project was headed for collapse as early as mid-1989.

In this interview, Cornell University physicist Maury Tigner discusses his involvement with the Superconducting Super Collider, as well as other collider construction projects in the U.S. and abroad. He reflects on the character of discussions relating to the project that became the SSC at the 1982 Snowmass workshop and a workshop he chaired at Cornell in early 1983, including his early presumption that costs would prove prohibitive. He discusses the conflict over recommending the termination of Brookhaven National Lab’s Isabelle collider that took place on the 1983 subpanel of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel chaired by Stanley Wojcicki, and he offers his perspective on the positions on Isabelle of President Reagan’s science advisor, DOE career officials, and European subpanel participants John Adams and Carlo Rubbia. Tigner recalls his recruitment of Wojcicki to the SSC Reference Designs Study and his experiences leading the SSC Central Design Group, including R&D funding limitation and oversight by Universities Research Association and the Department of Energy. He offers his perception that he was never seriously considered for the role of SSC Laboratory Director. Tigner also discusses the cost-conscious tradition of accelerator construction at Cornell University, memories of working with Helen Edwards, and the National Science Foundation’s support for Cornell’s accelerator laboratory. The interview concludes with an overview of Tigner’s more recent activities in China and his work on the Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering.

This interview with physicist Robert Diebold is part of a series conducted during research for the book Tunnel Visions, a history of the Superconducting Super Collider. In it, Diebold recalls his introduction to the SSC project at the 1982 Snowmass workshop and his subsequent move to the Department of Energy, as well as his perspective on the site-selection process for the SSC. He states that Texas was the standout site and that there was not a clear-cut second-place site, and he further notes that, while Texas had political advantages, the technical advantages of the site drove the high evaluation of it. Diebold also discusses differences in DOE oversight structures around the SSC under Energy Secretary John Herrington and Energy Secretary James Watkins, and the long effort to implement a cost-and-schedule-control system on the project. He reflects on how leadership of the SSC was structured and the people selected for key roles. The interview concludes with a discussion of factors driving cost increases on the project and their impact on relations between DOE and project leaders. Diebold posits that SSC Laboratory Director Roy Schwitters’s management style led to a deterioration in those relations.