DES in the 2008 US Congressional Budget Request

The next step in the review process is the joint DOE-NSF CD-1 Review of DES.

Still, this is very good news.

DOE FY2008 Congressional Budget Request excerpt:

Fabrication of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Project. The FY 2008 request includes a new Major Item of Equipment, the Dark Energy Survey (DES) project. This effort will provide the next step in determining the nature of dark energy, which is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate, by measuring the distances to approximately 300 million galaxies. DES employs several methods to measure the effects of dark energy on the distribution of these galaxies and other astrophysical objects.

The DES scientific collaboration will begin fabrication of a new charge coupled device (CCD) camera and associated lenses, electronics and data management system to be installed on the Blanco Telescope at the CTIO in Chile. The project is planned as a partnership between DOE and the NSF, which operates the telescope. The scientific collaboration is led by Fermilab and includes participants from laboratories and universities in the U.S., England and Spain. Funding for fabrication in FY 2008 is contingent on successful scientific and technical readiness reviews by the interested funding agencies.