Senator: Space project would be a plus

Auger North, in combination with the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina, would allow scientists to better understand the origins of matter, Solomey said. It's basic science, and what it might lead to, no one can predict today.

Other than possibly Morris, who foresees the economic impact of constructing 4,400 12x12-foot water tanks to detect highly charged particles emanating from deep space, jobs for people to maintain the array, a visitor center straddling the Kansas-Colorado border and the benefit of being able to expose Kansas high school and college students to some high-end science.

"I think having 400 scientists trooping in and out of that facility year-round would have tremendous economic benefit," said Morris, the Kansas Senate president. "It would be a boon for us in western Kansas and the state of Kansas as a whole."

Morris and Solomey will be in Hutchinson on Saturday to speak about Auger North at the second annual Galaxy Forum at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. The event, though aimed at teachers, is open to the public and will be from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Endeavor Room.

The observatory in Argentina has been up and collecting data now for about two years. But it can gather data only on those particles arriving in the lower part of the Southern Hemisphere. Auger North would allow scientists to paint the complete picture, gathering data from the Northern Hemisphere and working in combination with the Argentina observatory to analyze the tropical band near the equator, said Solomey.

The northern array will be spread over 8,000 square miles. But it will not take much farm land. It would consist of four fluorescence detectors and communication towers and 4,400 water tanks with solar energy panels and communications equipment on top, placed about every 1.5 miles, ideally at the corner of a field adjacent to a country road for easy maintenance.

The United States would pay about $16 million of the cost of Auger North, through entities like the National Science Foundation. The remainder of the cost, which Solomey said was put at $200 million in a new report this week, would be borne by 18 other countries.

Morris said that Kansas, like Colorado, would probably have to authorize a one-time tax credit about $250 for each tank set up on farm property.

The array already is headed for southeast Colorado. The question is whether it will lap over into western Kansas, as some would like.

Solomey said the biggest stumbling block is that Kansas does not have a university that qualifies as a full member of the research project. To do so, the university must have three physicists to work on it.

"It's still in the R&D phase, which is a good thing," Solomey said. "The design is all in Colorado now. There's no Kansas university in on it. I'm trying to get a Kansas team on it. At WSU we have two professors in the field, me and Professor (Holger) Meyer. If we get a third, we can apply as a full member university."

Morris said the Legislature may have to allocate some extra money to Wichita State for the specific purpose of allowing the school to hire another physicist.

"I'm excited about it. I think it's a golden opportunity for western Kansas and the whole state," said Morris.