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-18- these efforts. Appropriate staffing of the Museum Support Center will being in FY 1983 and will continue incrementally through the planning period. Particular attention will be paid to providing the necessary technical staff, including conservation specialists at the Center and the Mall Museum to maintain properly the collections and associated records. The construction of the Museum Support Center will allow over a period of years the return of collection space to public use, primarily for exhibits. In FY 1982, the Museum will be seeking to establish temporary exhibit space for such outstanding traveling shows as the Gold of Eldorado, as well as in-house produced exhibitions. The current Bicentennial hall will be reworked into a special area designated to such temporary exhibitions. As part of the long-range exhibition plan, in October 1980, the new coral reef exhibit will open on the whale hall. This exhibit, a major undertaking, will display a living coral reef in a 2,500-gallon tank. In late 1980 or early 1981, the Museum will also open in the whale hall an exhibit which will treat the exciting discoveries of new life forms that have been made at great depths along the Galapagos rift. Research results continue to be published through the Institution's series publications, books, articles, and monographs. The popularity of the Handbook of North American Indians has far exceeded expectations, with the first two volumes on Indians of [[underlined]] California [[/underlined]] and the [[underlined]] Northeast [[/underlined]] selling out within a few months of their release dates. Both have had second and third printings, for a total now of 25,000 of each book in print. The first of two volumes on [[underlined]] Southwest [[/underlined]] Indians was published in spring of 1980, and the Subarctic volume will be submitted to the printer before the end of the calendar year. The volume on Indians in Contemporary Society will be published in FY 1981. Some additional resources to cover increased production costs may be necessary alter in the planning period before the entire twenty volumes can be completed (estimates place this need at approximately $100,000), but further study is necessary before a request is made. Under its new director the Museum is exploring the prospects for more program-oriented research work in the future. The rapid degradation of the natural environments of the tropics as they undergo accelerated development is a major concern, and this is being seriously considered by the Museum as one area for potential added research attention. An effort to establish a program in tropical and desert studies may take place in FY 1983. [[underlined]] Astrophysical Observatory [[/underlined]]. Over the next five years, SAO will concentrate available new resources on two major questions of astronomy: (1) the origin and evolution of galaxies, and (2) the origin and evolution of stars like the Sun, including the Sun itself. During the 1980's these two areas will be particularly ripe for investigation. The study of galaxies should bear significant results because of the increasing availability and reliability of large and sensitive instruments, such as the Observatory's Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) located at Mt. Hopkins, Arizona, and X-ray imaging detectors. The study of the Sun and similar stars is important because of the necessity to understand their close relationships to planetary sciences, earth sciences, and biological sciences. During the planning period, an effort will be made to increase selectively the research staff to take advantage of these opportunities.
