Science reseacrh in the next 1 to 7 years will resolve many issues including dark matter and dark energy.
Research with the LSST will make it easier.
http://arxiv.org/abs/0805.2366
LSST: from Science Drivers to Reference Design and Anticipated Data Products
Authors: Z. Ivezic, J.A. Tyson, R. Allsman, J. Andrew, R. Angel, et al, for the LSST Collaboration
(Submitted on 15 May 2008)
Abstract: We describe the most ambitious survey currently planned in the visible band, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). The LSST design is driven by four main science themes: probing dark energy and dark matter, taking an inventory of the Solar System, exploring the transient optical sky, and mapping the Milky Way. LSST will be a large, wide-field ground-based system designed to obtain multiple images covering the sky that is visible from Cerro Pachon in Northern Chile. The current baseline design, with an 8.4m (6.5m effective) primary mirror, a 9.6 sq. deg. field of view, and a 3.2 Gigapixel camera, will allow about 10,000 sq.deg. of sky to be covered using pairs of 15-second exposures in two photometric bands every three nights on average, with typical 5-sigma depth for point sources of r=24.5. The system is designed to yield high image quality as well as superb astrometric and photometric accuracy. The survey area will include 30,000 sq.deg with delta<+34.5, and will be imaged multiple times in six bands, ugrizy, covering the wavelength range 320-1050 nm. The project is scheduled to have first light in 2014 and the beginning of survey operations in 2015. About 90% of the observing time will be devoted to a deep-wide-fast survey mode which will observe a 20,000 sq.deg. region about 1000 times (summed over all six bands) during the anticipated 10 years of operations, and yield a coadded map to r=27.5. These data will result in databases including 10 billion galaxies and a similar number of stars, and will serve the majority of science programs. (abridged)