<p>Does anyone know anything about Cornell's Astronomy program and how strong it is based on what you know?</p>
<p>I'd assume that it's pretty strong, being that the Mars Rover Program takes place there.</p>
<p>it's very strong, alot of very famous alumni have either taught or been educated at Cornell. 8 Cornell grads have gone into space through NASA, and there's a big observatory right on campus.</p>
<p>the observatory is open on friday nights for stargazing stuff...</p>
<p>well, the obsevatory on campus is old and mostly for fun... no help to the astronomy dept.</p>
<p>The Aricebo Telescope in Puerto Rico though (the one we have control of) is another story :D</p>
<p>for those who don't know what the arecibo</a> observatory is, you can see it in the James Bond film *Goldeneye
*.</p>
<p>Cornell is one of the few "Space Grant" colleges in the U.S. That means they get special things from the Gov't and work close with NASA in short. Hence the great number of Cornellians in Space. Also Carl Sagan works at Cornell so that is just downright awesome.</p>
<p>Who is Carl Sagan?</p>
<p>"Also Carl Sagan works at Cornell so that is just downright awesome."
I'd hope not....considering he's quite dead (I think he died around 1997 which is why the Pathfinder site on Mars is named after him as it landed the same year). </p>
<p>Carl Sagan is one of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century. He is probably most notorious for his "Cosmos" series of shows which discussed cosmology and astronomy.</p>
<p>That would be sweet if he still worked there.... Creepy, yes, but sweet...</p>
<p>I'd guess that Caltech is best for astronomy, based on its JPL connections and its general prestige/expertise.</p>