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A. Gould (OSU)
SIM will revolutionize stellar and Galactic astrophysics by tackling new questions that could never previously be addressed and making order of magnitude improvements in key parameters. SIM will measure R0 and Theta0 to <2 will enable precise measurements of the Milky Way mass and rotation curve. It will probe the Galactic 3-D mass distribution by 2 independent methods. By calibrating the RR Lyrae MV-[Fe/H] relation as well as obtaining direct distances to clusters and halo field objects, SIM will precisely date halo and globular-cluster formation as a function of metallicity. SIM will obtain 1 measurements for 200 stars of all types ranging from brown dwarfs (BD) to O stars from a broad range of metallicities, including both binaries and single stars, and it will yield precision measurements of white dwarf (WD) and black hole (BH) remnants as well. SIM microlensing will take an unbiased census of all objects in the Galactic bulge, both dark (BD WD NS BH) and luminous, and will resolve the nature of the dark-halo (MACHO) candidates currently being detected toward the LMC.