The Naval Observatory's role in the Sky Survey is focused on astrometry, the science of positions of celestial objects. Determining accurate positions of objects detected with the photometric/astrometric camera is necessary so that optical fibers can be placed on the objects for spectroscopic study. The Naval Observatory is responsible for the software (the astrometric pipeline) that determines the positions of objects from the camera's data. It has also made contributions to telescope engineering and construction costs to enhance the telescope's pointing and tracking performance.

Participants from USNO:

* denotes a Builder of the SDSS.