The 2010 Decadal Survey, New Worlds, New Horizons (NWNH), recommended that two major programs be accomplished with one telescope: the search to understand the acceleration of the universe and the search for planets around other stars. The 2010 Decadal Survey also made clear that the same mission would provide opportunities for advancing knowledge in many other areas of astronomical science, both through a robust Guest Observer Program (~25% of the total observing time) for new observations and a strong Guest Investigator Program for utilization of the data sets from the two core programs.
