A Few Comments on the Mid-Long Term Plans Several significant developments with potential of deeply affecting the future of CFHT will take place within the next months. The report will be formulated before the next meeting of the Board in December 1998. The Advisory Committee has issued a draft report to the agencies, based on its findings during the visit to CFHT in March 1998. This is a major development whose significance is currently becoming evaluated for the purpose of the actual planning. If the operating cost will still have to be reduced after 2001, a new strategy must be developed.
Several possibilities remain to be explored.
Among them would be to share the telescope time between a large set of 4-meter class telescopes by developing a plan to specialize each of them for specific scientific applications.