Sharing Telescopes and Resources

Sharing Telescopes and Resources (STAR) gathers surplus telescopes and other materials and passes them on to organizations where such resources are difficult to acquire. Individual efforts have been extremely successful at bringing people together from very different countries and cultures through a common interest in astronomy. STAR has sponsors ready to expand the program but additional support is being sought before STAR is officially launched.

There are three components to STAR:

• Gathering telescopes and other materials that are no longer needed in wealthier countries and passing them on to others in the developing world. Some effort continues on a case-by-case basis but sponsorship is being sought for international shipping to further expand this program. This program has begun a pilot program.

• Sponsored STAR projects are being created that allow an organization to raise funds through their own members and other supporters to purchase telescopes and ship them to recipients in the countries of their choice. Astronomers Without Borders makes the connections and handles all the logistics for the sponsoring organization and recipients.

• A self-sustaining foundation that will purchase telescopes in large quanitites and send them to new astronomy clubs in the developing world to make astronomy more accessible. This is a long-term goal that will carry on the goals of Astronomers Without Borders for many years.

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