HJR494 Summary

• Recognizes the National Solar Observatory as the primary provider of ground-based solar facilities in the United States and notes its future mission to improve space weather prediction.

• The National Solar Observatory receives $20 million annually in federal funding from the National Science Foundation and will relocate its operational headquarters in 2014.

• The University of Alabama in Huntsville, partnering with NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center and other organizations, is one of two finalists competing for the National Solar Observatory headquarters, along with the University of Colorado in Boulder.

• Relocation to Huntsville would bring 61 specialized professionals to Alabama, enhance workforce development, improve research infrastructure, and generate future research funding and international recognition for the state.

• The Legislature commits to working with the Governor and university to enhance solar physics instruction and research, and urges the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy to relocate the headquarters to the University of Alabama in Huntsville.