While scores of other spacecraft have also captured attention, new technology and refinements in mathematical analysis have also paved the way for a newly productive era in ground-based astronomy.

In the payload bay, one experiment will involve the melting and crystallization of mercury cadmium telluride, a semiconductor used to make infrared detectors for satellites and ground-based astronomy.

The foundation spends roughly $175 million a year on ground-based astronomy, said Dr. Robert Eisenstein, its assistant director for mathematical and physical sciences.

But he added, "My greatest fear is that a decision is made to put ground-based astronomy into NASA without the dollars and the manpower to go with it."

NASA's associate administrator for space science, Dr. Edward Weiler, said his agency had not actively sought responsibility for ground-based astronomy.

AURA began as a small organization dedicated to ground-based optical astronomy, managing a range of 1- to 4-meter telescopes and providing community advocacy for optical/infrared astronomy.

The altitude and isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes Mauna Kea one of the best locations on earth for ground-based astronomy.

The agency does not as a rule finance ground-based astronomy and, thus, has no SETI (pronounced SEH-tee) program.

This also helped move interest forward in ground-based astronomy.

In March 2006, Professor Gerry Gilmore predicted that ground-based astronomy would become impossible by this year because of pollution from aircraft exhaust trails and climate change.