Open Science in Radio Astronomy - Collaborations & Data Under Open Skies

After WWII, the rapid growth of radio astronomy capabilities and ambitions in the United States led to the creation of a National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and a new model of astronomy facility access (“open skies”) which drove new technical innovations and enabled instrument, data, algorithm and human capital exchanges on a global scale. Over the past half century, radio astronomy and astronomers have benefited enormously from broad access to international facilities and technologies, despite unclear and occasionally unfavorable public opinions and policy. In this talk we will explore how “open skies” data access works at the NRAO, and has delivered much of the promise of the open science movement. We predict the increased scale and complexity associated with the next generation of radio instruments may lead to different outcomes for the global research community.