During the last few months, we have started to test the near-Earth asteroid search strategy, and results look promising even if it's still too early to say anything that is statistically relevant.
The plan was to keep orbit@home running at the same time, and keep the WUs flowing to expand the set of observations used. We acquired and installed new storage, but we were not able to secure enough time and funding to do everything. Our old, 3-year grant has been spent completely. A new proposal to NASA was submitted last year to a program that just announced that will not be able to provide any funding to any proposed project because of shortage of funding at an higher level. This is shocking, as it is almost never the case that a program is not able to fund any new project. Without any dedicated funding, it is difficult to even keep the project running at a basic level, as at least a few hours of daily maintenance are necessary.
So where do we stand now?
Funding: we are committed to apply to relevant programs to secure funding to the orbit@home project. This process takes at least six more months, possibly a lot longer, but is the most viable way to support the project.
Coding continues slowly. The new run, when ready, will require some significant code changes, so we do what we can now, and as soon as we receive new funding, we should be able to start new WUs within a couple months.
Until then, all should stay pretty much as it is now, in a dormant state: no new WUs, website up but idle. But be assured that orbit@home is not dead or neglected, and I will do all I can to make it succeed. And yes, I do read every post on the forum and every personal message, but I'm not likely to write any message until there is something new to say.
I do appreciate all the users hanging around and caring for the project, and look forward to sending out good news and fresh WUs.
Pasquale
PS: for more info on what else kept me busy during the last year, look at my home page:
http://orbit.psi.edu/~tricaric/
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