Showing posts with label Mauna Over Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mauna Over Military. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2020
THIRTY METER TELESCOPE PLEADS FOR HELP AS COSTS DOUBLE TO $2.4 BILLION
New York Times - March 13, 2020
Recently, in what amounted to a kind of cosmic Supreme Court hearing, two giant telescope projects pleaded for their lives before a committee charged with charting the future of American astronomy.
...Both telescopes are the dream products of cumbersome international collaborations anchored by US universities or observatories. The Thirty Meter Telescope, named for the diameter of its primary light-gathering mirror, is borne of a joint effort of the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. The Giant Magellan would have an effective diameter of 25 meters; it is headquartered in Pasadena near the Carnegie Observatories, one of the founding members of the collaboration. By comparison, the upcoming European telescope is 39 meters in diameter, roughly the size of a basketball court.
New York Times - March 13, 2020
Recently, in what amounted to a kind of cosmic Supreme Court hearing, two giant telescope projects pleaded for their lives before a committee charged with charting the future of American astronomy.
Either of the telescopes — the Thirty Meter Telescope, slated for the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile — would be roughly three times larger and 10 times more powerful than anything now on Earth. Working in concert, they could tackle deep questions about the cosmos. But they are hundreds of millions of dollars short of the money needed to build them.
Failure to build them, American astronomers say, would cede dominion over the skies to Europe, which is building its own behemoth observatory in Chile, and which will be available only to European researchers. The prospective builders fear an echo of a moment in the late 20th century when scientists in the United States lost ground in particle physics to European researchers, and never really recovered in producing path-making discoveries in that field....
...Over the course of the afternoon, astronomers from the two telescope projects took turns filing into the room to pitch their telescope dreams in a flurry of slide presentations, followed by questions from the panelists....
...A blessing by the academy of either or both telescope projects could open the door to money from the National Science Foundation, which has traditionally supported astronomy in the United States, but has yet to contribute to either endeavor....
The Thirty Meter Telescope, TMT for short, is not popular among some Hawaiians. Upset about the exploitation and degradation of the mountain, they have blocked construction crews from accessing Mauna Kea. The collaboration, now known officially as the Thirty Meter Telescope International Observatory, has threatened to move to an alternate site in the Canary Islands. They haven’t done it yet: Mauna Kea is still a better site, they say.
“We were asked by you if our software was going to be late,” Gary Sanders, project manager for the telescope, said to the panelists at one point. “It’s not late.”
The telescope is “shovel ready, just not shovel accessible,” he added.
The testimony provided a rare look at the financial and managerial details of these ambitious projects, revealing that they will be more expensive than advertised over the last 20 years of development and promotion. The Thirty Meter Telescope collaboration has long floated a cost estimate of $1.4 billion. The figures released Tuesday put the cost at about $2.4 billion. The latest price tag for the Giant Magellan is now about $2 billion.
Under the deal being promoted by Dr. Mountain and his colleagues, about a third of the cost — $850 million for each telescope — would be provided by the National Science Foundation. As a result, the National Science Foundation would own one-third of the observing time on these telescopes, and would make it available to all American astronomers....
...Under questioning, the telescope collaborations also had to admit that they had not raised all the money needed to pay their own shares of the telescopes.
“How do we make a plan that closes?” Dr. Heckmann asked.
Dr. Charbonneau went on to address one of the elephants in the room: What if the Mauna Kea site was not feasible in the end, and the Thirty Meter observatory had to move to the Canary Islands? Were all the partners in the collaboration, which includes Canada, India, Japan and China in addition to Caltech and the University of California, still committed?
Dr. Sanders punted to Edward Stone, executive director of the Thirty Meter collaboration and an astrophysicist at Caltech. “The agreement is for Mauna Kea,” Dr. Stone said quietly. “Each member would have to agree to go to La Palma,” he said.
He added, “We’re not there yet.” Some of the partners were already willing to move the telescope, he said, but others wanted to wait and see what happened in Hawaii.
In January, a bill was introduced into both houses of Hawaii’s Legislature that would establish a reconciliation commission to mediate between protesters and the state. Its sponsors hope to “decouple” the dispute of Mauna Kea from broader conflicts over issues such as housing, education, health care and the preservation of Hawaiian culture, which linger from the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 and its territory’s subsequent annexation by the United States. According to Dr. Stone, “quiet conversations” were being held with state leaders, telescope opponents and astronomers.
If the talks fail, Dr. Stone added, “I’m sure the partners will agree to go to La Palma.”
The La Palma site is lower in altitude than Mauna Kea, making it less desirable for observing some types of cosmic infrared radiation, but Dr. Sanders declared that the science they needed could be done from both sites: “Mauna Kea is a better site, and we want to go there.”
A final decision, Dr. Sanders added, was a few months away....
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
HARRY KIM ASKS TMT TO DELAY CONSTRUCTION FOR TWO MORE MONTHS
Hawai`i Tribune-Herald - February 18, 2020
The current truce between the Thirty Meter Telescope and its opponents might be extended by another two months at the request of Hawai`i Island Mayor Harry Kim.
In late December, Kim approached leaders of the anti-TMT protest with an offer to reopen the Maunakea Access Road — which had at the time been closed and occupied by protesters for more than five months — and a promise from TMT officials that no attempts to build the observatory would take place until at least the end of February.
With the end of the month less than two weeks away, Kim said he has worked to try to extend the grace period, to give both sides an opportunity to find common ground and reach some kind of mutual agreement.
“Of course, my authority over the whole thing is really quite limited,” Kim said. “But I have asked TMT to extend the period by another two months.”
Kim said he is awaiting a response from TMT officials, adding that his proposal for a two-month extension was discussed at a meeting of the TMT board last week.
Although the results of that meeting have not been disclosed to him, Kim said he believes he will get an official answer from TMT by the end of the week.
Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the leaders of the protest, said she hopes the period can be extended, in order to give TMT officials more time to consider building elsewhere.
“I think it would be beneficial for all of us if it gets extended,” Wong-Wilson said. “The best case for us is for law enforcement to continue to stand down. … We’ll remain on the mountain, and it will give them time to reconsider what they’re doing.”
Wong-Wilson said the protesters — who call themselves protectors of Maunakea and oppose the construction of TMT because they consider the mountain sacred — have not been privy to any of the mayor’s discussions regarding the extension of the truce.
Without an official answer from TMT — a TMT spokesperson was unable to provide a statement on Monday — the truce will come to an end after Feb. 29, although neither Kim nor Wong-Wilson were confident about what that means.
“There’s no answer at this point for what happens after the 29th,” Kim said.
While Wong-Wilson said she does not expect TMT will attempt construction immediately on March 1, she said the protesters may begin to return to “high alert,” as they were during the five-month standoff last year.
Hawai`i Tribune-Herald - February 18, 2020
The current truce between the Thirty Meter Telescope and its opponents might be extended by another two months at the request of Hawai`i Island Mayor Harry Kim.
In late December, Kim approached leaders of the anti-TMT protest with an offer to reopen the Maunakea Access Road — which had at the time been closed and occupied by protesters for more than five months — and a promise from TMT officials that no attempts to build the observatory would take place until at least the end of February.
With the end of the month less than two weeks away, Kim said he has worked to try to extend the grace period, to give both sides an opportunity to find common ground and reach some kind of mutual agreement.
“Of course, my authority over the whole thing is really quite limited,” Kim said. “But I have asked TMT to extend the period by another two months.”
Kim said he is awaiting a response from TMT officials, adding that his proposal for a two-month extension was discussed at a meeting of the TMT board last week.
Although the results of that meeting have not been disclosed to him, Kim said he believes he will get an official answer from TMT by the end of the week.
Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the leaders of the protest, said she hopes the period can be extended, in order to give TMT officials more time to consider building elsewhere.
“I think it would be beneficial for all of us if it gets extended,” Wong-Wilson said. “The best case for us is for law enforcement to continue to stand down. … We’ll remain on the mountain, and it will give them time to reconsider what they’re doing.”
Wong-Wilson said the protesters — who call themselves protectors of Maunakea and oppose the construction of TMT because they consider the mountain sacred — have not been privy to any of the mayor’s discussions regarding the extension of the truce.
Without an official answer from TMT — a TMT spokesperson was unable to provide a statement on Monday — the truce will come to an end after Feb. 29, although neither Kim nor Wong-Wilson were confident about what that means.
“There’s no answer at this point for what happens after the 29th,” Kim said.
While Wong-Wilson said she does not expect TMT will attempt construction immediately on March 1, she said the protesters may begin to return to “high alert,” as they were during the five-month standoff last year.
Friday, January 24, 2020
PROTECTORS OPPOSE MAUNA KEA TELESCOPE AT UC REGENTS MEETING
The Daily Californian - January 24, 2020
About 80 protesters gathered at a UC Board of Regents meeting Thursday to demand that the UC system divests from the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, project on Mauna Kea — a mountain that is sacred to Native Hawaiians.
These protesters consisted of the Mauna Kea Protectors, students from various schools within the UC system, Bay Area residents and some Native Hawaiians from the state itself, according to UC Santa Cruz Mauna Kea Protectors member Karli DeRego. The group gathered around 8 a.m. and spoke at the meeting to express its concerns about the UC system investing in TMT, according to Mauna Kea Protectors at UC Berkeley organizer Sarah Bancroft.
“We’re here to inform you that the people of Hawaii will not accept this anymore,” said Joshua Lanakila Mangauil, an organizer of the protest. “I ask this body to reinstill that money … and take care of your own students.”
The TMT International Observatory is a partnership between the UC system and the California Institute of Technology, as well as other organizations from Japan, China, India and Canada. Mangauil alleged that India, one of the partners in the project, said it wanted the TMT project moved away from Mauna Kea.
The protesters then went outside to hold a press conference and read a letter written by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. DeRego, along with Ashley Garelick from Intersectional Feminists at UC Santa Barbara and Angeli Noelle Cabrera from the UC Santa Barbara Pacific Islander Student Association, read excerpts from the letter aloud.
“Accordingly, the committee requests the state party to provide information on the steps taken to … ensure the right to consultation and free, prior and informed consent to Native Hawaiians affected by projects on or near their ancestral lands and territories,” stated the letter. “Consider the suspension of the Thirty Meter Telescope project. … Consider adopting concrete measures to effectively protect the sacred sites of indigenous peoples.”
Mangauil then led the group in an “aha” protocol, a traditional Native Hawaiian ritual practice, after a member of a local indigenous community spoke and prayed for the success of the Mauna Kea protesters. For the next hour, Mangauil played a massive drum and chanted while the other protesters repeated his chants and danced traditional dances. Some bystanders joined in the dancing, and some protesters took their shoes off.
At the end of the rally, Mangauil spoke to the crowd and explained the purpose of them demonstrating for Mauna Kea. He spoke of transforming systems that are “not serving” the people and of the importance of fighting for one’s community.
“Call that mana,” Mangauil said. “Face that fire.” Then, with a closing song, the protest concluded.
TMT would be one of the world’s most powerful telescopes and would be able to provide images 10 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope, according to UC Office of the President spokesperson Stett Holbrook.
TMT has collaborated with the Hawaiian community for more than 10 years to address cultural, environmental, educational and economic issues, Holbrook said in an email. Holbrook added that UC Board of Regents chair John Pérez wanted the discussion of the TMT project to come before the full board.
“The TIO and its individual partners have a longstanding history of advancing astronomy on Hawaii Island and have worked diligently for more than a decade to engage community members, the local business community and the state in finding a peaceful path forward on Maunakea,” Holbrook said in the email. “TMT remains committed to integrating science and culture, providing the best possible stewardship, enriching the local economy and supporting educational opportunities as it enables this global scientific endeavor.”
The Daily Californian - January 24, 2020
About 80 protesters gathered at a UC Board of Regents meeting Thursday to demand that the UC system divests from the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, project on Mauna Kea — a mountain that is sacred to Native Hawaiians.
These protesters consisted of the Mauna Kea Protectors, students from various schools within the UC system, Bay Area residents and some Native Hawaiians from the state itself, according to UC Santa Cruz Mauna Kea Protectors member Karli DeRego. The group gathered around 8 a.m. and spoke at the meeting to express its concerns about the UC system investing in TMT, according to Mauna Kea Protectors at UC Berkeley organizer Sarah Bancroft.
“We’re here to inform you that the people of Hawaii will not accept this anymore,” said Joshua Lanakila Mangauil, an organizer of the protest. “I ask this body to reinstill that money … and take care of your own students.”
The TMT International Observatory is a partnership between the UC system and the California Institute of Technology, as well as other organizations from Japan, China, India and Canada. Mangauil alleged that India, one of the partners in the project, said it wanted the TMT project moved away from Mauna Kea.
The protesters then went outside to hold a press conference and read a letter written by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. DeRego, along with Ashley Garelick from Intersectional Feminists at UC Santa Barbara and Angeli Noelle Cabrera from the UC Santa Barbara Pacific Islander Student Association, read excerpts from the letter aloud.
“Accordingly, the committee requests the state party to provide information on the steps taken to … ensure the right to consultation and free, prior and informed consent to Native Hawaiians affected by projects on or near their ancestral lands and territories,” stated the letter. “Consider the suspension of the Thirty Meter Telescope project. … Consider adopting concrete measures to effectively protect the sacred sites of indigenous peoples.”
Mangauil then led the group in an “aha” protocol, a traditional Native Hawaiian ritual practice, after a member of a local indigenous community spoke and prayed for the success of the Mauna Kea protesters. For the next hour, Mangauil played a massive drum and chanted while the other protesters repeated his chants and danced traditional dances. Some bystanders joined in the dancing, and some protesters took their shoes off.
At the end of the rally, Mangauil spoke to the crowd and explained the purpose of them demonstrating for Mauna Kea. He spoke of transforming systems that are “not serving” the people and of the importance of fighting for one’s community.
“Call that mana,” Mangauil said. “Face that fire.” Then, with a closing song, the protest concluded.
TMT would be one of the world’s most powerful telescopes and would be able to provide images 10 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope, according to UC Office of the President spokesperson Stett Holbrook.
TMT has collaborated with the Hawaiian community for more than 10 years to address cultural, environmental, educational and economic issues, Holbrook said in an email. Holbrook added that UC Board of Regents chair John Pérez wanted the discussion of the TMT project to come before the full board.
“The TIO and its individual partners have a longstanding history of advancing astronomy on Hawaii Island and have worked diligently for more than a decade to engage community members, the local business community and the state in finding a peaceful path forward on Maunakea,” Holbrook said in the email. “TMT remains committed to integrating science and culture, providing the best possible stewardship, enriching the local economy and supporting educational opportunities as it enables this global scientific endeavor.”
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
HEREʻS THE ARTICLE MENTIONED IN YESTERDAYʻS FREE HAWAI`I TV
New York Times - December 23, 2019
The United States is about to lose the universe.
It wouldn’t be quite the same as, say, losing China to communism in the 1940s. No hostile ideologies or forces are involved. But much is at stake: American intellectual, technical and economic might, cultural pedigree and the cosmic bragging rights that have been our nation’s for the last century.
In 1917, the 100-inch Hooker telescope went into operation on Mount Wilson in California, and Edwin Hubble eventually used it to discover that the universe is expanding. Until very recently, the mightiest telescopes on Earth have been on American mountaintops like Palomar, Kitt Peak and Mauna Kea. They revealed the Big Bang, black holes and quasars.
But no more. In 2025 the European Southern Observatory, a multinational treaty organization akin to CERN but looking outward instead of inward, will invite the first light into a telescope that will dwarf all others. The European Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal in Chile will have a primary light-gathering mirror 39 meters in diameter, making it 13 times more powerful than any telescope now working and more sharp-eyed than the iconic Hubble Space Telescope.
The European goliath will be able to see the glow of planets orbiting other stars and peer into the black hearts of faraway galaxies. Who knows what else it might bring into view.
There are two American-led telescope projects that could compete with the European giant, if they are ever built: the Thirty Meter Telescope, slated for construction on Mauna Kea, in Hawai`i, and the Giant Magellan on Cerro Las Campanas, in Chile. But both are mired in financial difficulties and political controversies, and their completion, if it happens, is at least a decade away.
Work on the Thirty Meter Telescope, or T.M.T., has been stalled for years by a protest movement arguing that decades of telescope building on Mauna Kea have polluted and desecrated a mountain that is sacred to Polynesian culture, and have violated the rights of native Hawaiians. The team behind the project has vowed to move it to the Canary Islands if it can’t go forward in Hawai`i.
Both projects are hundreds of millions of dollars short of the financing they need to build their telescopes. Without them, American astronomers, accustomed to V.I.P. seating in observations of the universe, could be largely consigned to the cosmic bleachers in years to come. Early next year, probably in late February, representatives of the two telescope projects will appear before a blue-ribbon panel of the National Academy of Sciences to plead for help.
The panel is part of the so-called Decadal Survey, in which the astronomy community ranks its priorities for spending federal money. Congress and agencies like the National Science Foundation traditionally take their cues from the survey’s recommendations. A high ranking could shake loose money from the National Science Foundation, which has traditionally funded ground-based observatories.
Without the National Academy’s endorsement, the telescopes face an uphill struggle to reach completion. Even with an endorsement, the way will be tough. The Trump Administration appears to be trying to eliminate the National Science Foundation’s funding for large facilities such as observatories. So much for successes like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which detected colliding black holes. Luckily for now, Congress has resisted these cuts.
The telescopes are not cheap. They will need at least a billion more dollars between them to get to the finish line, maybe more. So far, the team behind the Giant Magellan Telescope has raised about $600 million from its partners and seeks an equivalent amount from the National Science Foundation.
The T.M.T. collaboration, now officially know as the T.M.T. International Observatory — T.I.O., in case you haven’t read enough acronyms — has publicly put the cost of its telescope at $1.4 billion, but recent analyses by knowledgeable outsiders come up with a price tag of more than $2 billion.
In return for that investment, all American astronomers, not just collaboration members, will gain access to both giant telescopes to pursue certain important projects.
Granted, even without these mammoth glass eyes, American astronomers will still have instruments in space, like the beloved Hubble Space Telescope and its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. But Hubble is growing old, and the Webb telescope, with a snake-bitten history of development, will spend a tense several months unfolding itself in space once it reaches orbit in 2021.
Astronomers will also have the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, already under construction in Chile, which will in effect make movies of the entire universe every few nights. But that telescope is only 8 meters in size and will not see as deep into space as the Really Big Eyes. And, of course, U.S. astronomers will be able to sign on to projects as partners of their European colleagues, much like American physicists now troop to CERN, in Geneva.
The need for giant, ground-based telescopes was apparent to American astronomers 20 years ago. The Thirty Meter project originated at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, and has grown to include Canada, Japan, China and India. The Giant Magellan started at the Carnegie Observatories and now includes several universities and research institutes, as well as South Korea, Australia and the State of São Paulo, in Brazil.
The two projects have been fighting for partners and funds ever since. Two telescopes, one in the North and the other in the South, would complement each other, so the story has gone. Until now, neither telescope has been able to enlist the federal government as a partner.
Last year the two groups agreed to make joint cause to Academy panel and the astronomical community.
As Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy said then, “Both projects finally woke up to the fact they are being creamed by the European 39-meter.”
But the Thirty Meter team has yet to make peace with the protesters, in Hawai`i, for whom the telescope represents a long history of colonial disrespect of native rights and culture.
Last July, construction workers arrived at Mauna Kea to start building the telescope, only to find that nine protesters had handcuffed themselves to a cattle guard, blocking the road up the mountain.
The ensuing standoff captured the imagination of people sympathetic to the plight of indigenous people, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawai`i (who is also running for president), and generated unease within the collaboration. In July, Vivek Goel, vice president for research at the University of Toronto, one of the Canadian partners in the Thirty Meter projected, issued a statement that the university “does not condone the use of police force in furthering its research objectives.”
The Thirty Meter team recently secured a building permit for their alternative telescope site, on La Palma, in Spain’s Canary Islands. But that mountain is only half as high as Mauna Kea, leaving more atmosphere and water vapor between the astronomers and the stars. Some of the T.M.T. partners, like Canada and Japan, are less than enthusiastic about the possible switch. An environmental organization, Ben Magec, has vowed to fight the telescope, saying the area is rife with archaeological artifacts. Moreover, moving the telescope off American soil, would only complicate the politics of obtaining funding from the National Science Foundation.
Back in 2003, when these giant-telescope efforts were starting, Richard Ellis, an astronomer now at University College London, said, “We are really going to have a hard time building even one of these.” He didn’t know just how true that was.
Now, as the wheels of the academic and government bureaucracy begin to turn, many American astronomers worry that they are following in the footsteps of their physicist colleagues. In 1993, Congress canceled the Superconducting Super Collider, and the United States ceded the exploration of inner space to Europe and CERN, which built the Large Hadron Collider, 27 miles in diameter, where the long-sought Higgs boson was eventually discovered.
The United States no longer builds particle accelerators. There could come a day, soon, when Americans no longer build giant telescopes. That would be a crushing disappointment to a handful of curious humans stuck on Earth, thirsting for cosmic grandeur. In outer space, nobody can hear you cry.
New York Times - December 23, 2019
The United States is about to lose the universe.
It wouldn’t be quite the same as, say, losing China to communism in the 1940s. No hostile ideologies or forces are involved. But much is at stake: American intellectual, technical and economic might, cultural pedigree and the cosmic bragging rights that have been our nation’s for the last century.
In 1917, the 100-inch Hooker telescope went into operation on Mount Wilson in California, and Edwin Hubble eventually used it to discover that the universe is expanding. Until very recently, the mightiest telescopes on Earth have been on American mountaintops like Palomar, Kitt Peak and Mauna Kea. They revealed the Big Bang, black holes and quasars.
But no more. In 2025 the European Southern Observatory, a multinational treaty organization akin to CERN but looking outward instead of inward, will invite the first light into a telescope that will dwarf all others. The European Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal in Chile will have a primary light-gathering mirror 39 meters in diameter, making it 13 times more powerful than any telescope now working and more sharp-eyed than the iconic Hubble Space Telescope.
The European goliath will be able to see the glow of planets orbiting other stars and peer into the black hearts of faraway galaxies. Who knows what else it might bring into view.
There are two American-led telescope projects that could compete with the European giant, if they are ever built: the Thirty Meter Telescope, slated for construction on Mauna Kea, in Hawai`i, and the Giant Magellan on Cerro Las Campanas, in Chile. But both are mired in financial difficulties and political controversies, and their completion, if it happens, is at least a decade away.
Work on the Thirty Meter Telescope, or T.M.T., has been stalled for years by a protest movement arguing that decades of telescope building on Mauna Kea have polluted and desecrated a mountain that is sacred to Polynesian culture, and have violated the rights of native Hawaiians. The team behind the project has vowed to move it to the Canary Islands if it can’t go forward in Hawai`i.
Both projects are hundreds of millions of dollars short of the financing they need to build their telescopes. Without them, American astronomers, accustomed to V.I.P. seating in observations of the universe, could be largely consigned to the cosmic bleachers in years to come. Early next year, probably in late February, representatives of the two telescope projects will appear before a blue-ribbon panel of the National Academy of Sciences to plead for help.
The panel is part of the so-called Decadal Survey, in which the astronomy community ranks its priorities for spending federal money. Congress and agencies like the National Science Foundation traditionally take their cues from the survey’s recommendations. A high ranking could shake loose money from the National Science Foundation, which has traditionally funded ground-based observatories.
Without the National Academy’s endorsement, the telescopes face an uphill struggle to reach completion. Even with an endorsement, the way will be tough. The Trump Administration appears to be trying to eliminate the National Science Foundation’s funding for large facilities such as observatories. So much for successes like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, which detected colliding black holes. Luckily for now, Congress has resisted these cuts.
The telescopes are not cheap. They will need at least a billion more dollars between them to get to the finish line, maybe more. So far, the team behind the Giant Magellan Telescope has raised about $600 million from its partners and seeks an equivalent amount from the National Science Foundation.
The T.M.T. collaboration, now officially know as the T.M.T. International Observatory — T.I.O., in case you haven’t read enough acronyms — has publicly put the cost of its telescope at $1.4 billion, but recent analyses by knowledgeable outsiders come up with a price tag of more than $2 billion.
In return for that investment, all American astronomers, not just collaboration members, will gain access to both giant telescopes to pursue certain important projects.
Granted, even without these mammoth glass eyes, American astronomers will still have instruments in space, like the beloved Hubble Space Telescope and its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. But Hubble is growing old, and the Webb telescope, with a snake-bitten history of development, will spend a tense several months unfolding itself in space once it reaches orbit in 2021.
Astronomers will also have the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, already under construction in Chile, which will in effect make movies of the entire universe every few nights. But that telescope is only 8 meters in size and will not see as deep into space as the Really Big Eyes. And, of course, U.S. astronomers will be able to sign on to projects as partners of their European colleagues, much like American physicists now troop to CERN, in Geneva.
The need for giant, ground-based telescopes was apparent to American astronomers 20 years ago. The Thirty Meter project originated at the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, and has grown to include Canada, Japan, China and India. The Giant Magellan started at the Carnegie Observatories and now includes several universities and research institutes, as well as South Korea, Australia and the State of São Paulo, in Brazil.
The two projects have been fighting for partners and funds ever since. Two telescopes, one in the North and the other in the South, would complement each other, so the story has gone. Until now, neither telescope has been able to enlist the federal government as a partner.
Last year the two groups agreed to make joint cause to Academy panel and the astronomical community.
As Matt Mountain, president of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy said then, “Both projects finally woke up to the fact they are being creamed by the European 39-meter.”
But the Thirty Meter team has yet to make peace with the protesters, in Hawai`i, for whom the telescope represents a long history of colonial disrespect of native rights and culture.
Last July, construction workers arrived at Mauna Kea to start building the telescope, only to find that nine protesters had handcuffed themselves to a cattle guard, blocking the road up the mountain.
The ensuing standoff captured the imagination of people sympathetic to the plight of indigenous people, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Representative Tulsi Gabbard, Democrat of Hawai`i (who is also running for president), and generated unease within the collaboration. In July, Vivek Goel, vice president for research at the University of Toronto, one of the Canadian partners in the Thirty Meter projected, issued a statement that the university “does not condone the use of police force in furthering its research objectives.”
The Thirty Meter team recently secured a building permit for their alternative telescope site, on La Palma, in Spain’s Canary Islands. But that mountain is only half as high as Mauna Kea, leaving more atmosphere and water vapor between the astronomers and the stars. Some of the T.M.T. partners, like Canada and Japan, are less than enthusiastic about the possible switch. An environmental organization, Ben Magec, has vowed to fight the telescope, saying the area is rife with archaeological artifacts. Moreover, moving the telescope off American soil, would only complicate the politics of obtaining funding from the National Science Foundation.
Back in 2003, when these giant-telescope efforts were starting, Richard Ellis, an astronomer now at University College London, said, “We are really going to have a hard time building even one of these.” He didn’t know just how true that was.
Now, as the wheels of the academic and government bureaucracy begin to turn, many American astronomers worry that they are following in the footsteps of their physicist colleagues. In 1993, Congress canceled the Superconducting Super Collider, and the United States ceded the exploration of inner space to Europe and CERN, which built the Large Hadron Collider, 27 miles in diameter, where the long-sought Higgs boson was eventually discovered.
The United States no longer builds particle accelerators. There could come a day, soon, when Americans no longer build giant telescopes. That would be a crushing disappointment to a handful of curious humans stuck on Earth, thirsting for cosmic grandeur. In outer space, nobody can hear you cry.
Thursday, December 26, 2019
MAUNA KEA ACCESS ROAD TO RE-OPEN SATURDAY - PROTECTORS TO MOVE TO SIDE OF ROAD - NO MOVEMENT OF EQUIPMENT PROMISED FOR AT LEAST 2 MONTHS
KITV News - December 26, 2019
Mayor Harry Kim announced on Thursday that the Mauna Kea Access Road is temporarily closed to the public as the road is being cleared to make it completely accessible to the public.
Under an agreement with the protectors, the clearing operation will involve the collaborative efforts of State and County agencies working together with the protectors.
During the road closure, access will be limited to telescope personnel, ranchers, conservation workers, hunters and cultural practitioners, as previously arranged, the Mayor said.
The road is set to reopen to the general public on Saturday, December 28. This date coincides with the reopening of the Hale Pohaku Visitor Center.
KITV News - December 26, 2019
Mayor Harry Kim announced on Thursday that the Mauna Kea Access Road is temporarily closed to the public as the road is being cleared to make it completely accessible to the public.
Under an agreement with the protectors, the clearing operation will involve the collaborative efforts of State and County agencies working together with the protectors.
During the road closure, access will be limited to telescope personnel, ranchers, conservation workers, hunters and cultural practitioners, as previously arranged, the Mayor said.
The road is set to reopen to the general public on Saturday, December 28. This date coincides with the reopening of the Hale Pohaku Visitor Center.
Monday, December 23, 2019
MAUNA KEA UPDATE
Aloha `āina kākou,
On Thursday, Dec 19th, state law enforcement officers ordered kia`i to clear the road by December 26th or face mass arrests.
While the deadline to clear the road is December 26th, we do not believe that law enforcement will attempt to sweep kūpuna and ki`i on this day, but we must remain vigilant and prepared.
Aloha `āina kākou,
On Thursday, Dec 19th, state law enforcement officers ordered kia`i to clear the road by December 26th or face mass arrests.
While the deadline to clear the road is December 26th, we do not believe that law enforcement will attempt to sweep kūpuna and ki`i on this day, but we must remain vigilant and prepared.
We are putting out a kāhea to all Hawai`i Island kia`i, to spend the holiday on the Mauna with the kūpuna and be prepared to kūpa`a, stand with us, should state enforcement officers arrive on the 26th.
For all other kia`i, on neighbor islands and beyond, we ask that you be on standby for a kāhea. To all who come, be prepared for extreme weather and cold nights.
The road to the summit of Maunakea is currently open to the public via the side gravel road alongside the kupuna tent. Please drive carefully and slowly.
It is our wish that all kūpuna, all kia`i, state enforcement officers and administrators, and all the people of Hawai`i enjoy a peaceful holiday in the warmth and aloha of friends and loved ones.
Hau`oli Ao Polohiwa a Kanaloa, Lonoikamakahiki and see you on the Mauna!
#Repost Pu'uhonua o Pu'uhuluhulu Maunakea
For all other kia`i, on neighbor islands and beyond, we ask that you be on standby for a kāhea. To all who come, be prepared for extreme weather and cold nights.
The road to the summit of Maunakea is currently open to the public via the side gravel road alongside the kupuna tent. Please drive carefully and slowly.
It is our wish that all kūpuna, all kia`i, state enforcement officers and administrators, and all the people of Hawai`i enjoy a peaceful holiday in the warmth and aloha of friends and loved ones.
Hau`oli Ao Polohiwa a Kanaloa, Lonoikamakahiki and see you on the Mauna!
#Repost Pu'uhonua o Pu'uhuluhulu Maunakea
Friday, December 20, 2019
THINK AGAIN
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - December 20, 2019
In a confusing flurry of activity Thursday, Gov. David Ige said he was removing state law enforcement personnel from Mauna Kea for the time being, while a top state law enforcement officer warned the protesters blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road that they have until Dec. 26 to clear the road, or face arrest.
Hawai`i County Mayor Harry Kim announced county police also will withdraw from the Mauna Kea protests by Friday afternoon, but Police Chief Paul Ferreira said his department is aware of the state’s Dec. 26 deadline for the protesters. “If there is going to be action, they’re going to take it, and we’re going to support,” he said.
Lino Kamakau, branch chief of the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resource Management, described the new deadline in a briefing for about 75 protesters at the camp shortly after Ige announced law enforcement officials would leave the site of the long standoff.
Kaho`okahi Kanhua, one of the leaders of the protest, said Kamakau also said that if the road is not opened by Dec. 26, law enforcement “will come in heavy handed.”
“He did say that all levels of force are on the table, whether it’s chemical disbursements, the pepper spray and the mace, whether it’s the LRAD ( a long range acoustic device), all of those implements and those tools or weapons that they brought as was visible on July 15th, 16th and 17th, it’s been communicated to us that those same weapons will be brought back again, and they are prepared to use them if necessary,” Kanuha said.
Kamakau declined comment after the briefing, referring questions to a spokesman for DLNR who was not immediately available.
State Department of Transportation crews began work Thursday dismantling barricades that were placed along the Daniel K, Inouye Highway last summer to help separate the protest camps from the passing traffic. State crews also removed a temporary traffic light placed on the highway to help the streams of protesters to cross safely back and forth across the highway.
The Mauna Kea Access Road has been closed since July 15, and opponents of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope established a blockade on the road to prevent TMT equipment from reaching the summit area. The protesters believe construction of TMT on Mauna Kea would be a desecration of a mountain that many Hawaiians consider sacred.
Supporters of the project including Ige say the TMT backers have secured all of the necessary permits from the state and county, and have the right to proceed with construction. But construction of the telescope remains stalled by the protests, which have now lasted more than 22 weeks.
On July 17 police arrested 39 people for obstructing the road, but authorities have made no attempt since then to clear the road to allow work to begin at the TMT site near the summit. Ige has said the state and counties have so far spent $15 million coping with the protests.
Ige’s office wouldn’t comment on the Dec. 26 deadline announced Thursday other than to say that “law enforcement officers on-site continue to talk with the protesters about restoring full public access on Mauna Kea Access Road.”
Just before Kamakau briefed the anti-TMT protesters on the deadline to clear the road, the governor painted a very different picture of his plans for Mauna Kea during an 11 a.m. press conference at the state Capitol.
The governor did not mention the Dec. 26 deadline. Instead, Ige announced that state enforcement officers would withdraw from the mountain because TMT officials said they were not going to proceed with construction at this time.
Ige said, “We have been working with the (TMT International Observatory) being prepared for them beginning construction and when we were informed that they were not going to be proceeding at this time we thought that it would be prudent to remove state personnel and start to de- escalate and return access to Mauna Kea Access Road.”
The Ige administration also distributed a memo in which Ige expressed his “severe disappointment that TMT will not move forward for now, despite months of often intense behind-the-scenes discussions” involving TMT, law enforcement and the protesters.
Gordon Squires, TMT vice president for external relations, released a statement after the governor’s news conference that said in part, “We don’t want to put our workers, the people of Hawaii, and the protesters at risk. Unfortunately, the state and Hawaii County have not demonstrated that they are able to provide safe, sustained access to Maunakea for everyone.”
Squires did not mention a pause in TMT’s plans for Mauna Kea. Squires said in the statement Mauna Kea remains TMT’s preferred site.
“The project and our individual partners are committed to moving forward in a manner that honors and supports our scientific goals, environmental stewardship and the traditions and culture of Hawai`i,” it says.
Squires denied any suggestion the project has been put on hold. But he also said he couldn’t say exactly when construction could start. He said the project was poised to start construction in July and August, but gearing up again will depend on a variety of factors, some of them out of TMT’s control.
Squires noted that weather is a concern as winter sets in on the mountain. “Wintertime construction is challenging but possible,” he said.
Even though Mauna Kea remains the preferred site for the next-generation telescope, the project’s alternative site in the Canary Islands remains very much in play. In fact, the TMT last month obtained its final permit, essentially giving the project a green light.
Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the protest leaders, said the kupuna, or elders, at the protest camp would need to meet to discuss the new deadline. But she was skeptical that the protesters would suddenly voluntarily pack up and clear out of the protest site.
Even though Ige announced Thursday morning that TMT is not ready to move forward at the moment, “there is absolutely nothing that tells us that the threat is removed,” Wong- Wilson said.
“We don’t trust government to begin with and this particular governor, so him making an obtuse statement that TMT has announced that they’re not coming for a while just doesn’t hold any water for us,” she said.
Wong-Wilson said Kamakau told the protesters that law enforcement would visit the protest site each day to ensure progress is being made on removing the tents and equipment that are blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road.
“They are simply telling us the road is now open, you’re in the way, and you have until the 26th of December over the Christmas holiday to remove any blockage of the road, and no options,” she said.
“We asked if there were other options, for example moving to the side of the road, and they were unclear about that,” Wong-Wilson said.
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - December 20, 2019
In a confusing flurry of activity Thursday, Gov. David Ige said he was removing state law enforcement personnel from Mauna Kea for the time being, while a top state law enforcement officer warned the protesters blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road that they have until Dec. 26 to clear the road, or face arrest.
Hawai`i County Mayor Harry Kim announced county police also will withdraw from the Mauna Kea protests by Friday afternoon, but Police Chief Paul Ferreira said his department is aware of the state’s Dec. 26 deadline for the protesters. “If there is going to be action, they’re going to take it, and we’re going to support,” he said.
Lino Kamakau, branch chief of the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resource Management, described the new deadline in a briefing for about 75 protesters at the camp shortly after Ige announced law enforcement officials would leave the site of the long standoff.
Kaho`okahi Kanhua, one of the leaders of the protest, said Kamakau also said that if the road is not opened by Dec. 26, law enforcement “will come in heavy handed.”
“He did say that all levels of force are on the table, whether it’s chemical disbursements, the pepper spray and the mace, whether it’s the LRAD ( a long range acoustic device), all of those implements and those tools or weapons that they brought as was visible on July 15th, 16th and 17th, it’s been communicated to us that those same weapons will be brought back again, and they are prepared to use them if necessary,” Kanuha said.
Kamakau declined comment after the briefing, referring questions to a spokesman for DLNR who was not immediately available.
State Department of Transportation crews began work Thursday dismantling barricades that were placed along the Daniel K, Inouye Highway last summer to help separate the protest camps from the passing traffic. State crews also removed a temporary traffic light placed on the highway to help the streams of protesters to cross safely back and forth across the highway.
The Mauna Kea Access Road has been closed since July 15, and opponents of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope established a blockade on the road to prevent TMT equipment from reaching the summit area. The protesters believe construction of TMT on Mauna Kea would be a desecration of a mountain that many Hawaiians consider sacred.
Supporters of the project including Ige say the TMT backers have secured all of the necessary permits from the state and county, and have the right to proceed with construction. But construction of the telescope remains stalled by the protests, which have now lasted more than 22 weeks.
On July 17 police arrested 39 people for obstructing the road, but authorities have made no attempt since then to clear the road to allow work to begin at the TMT site near the summit. Ige has said the state and counties have so far spent $15 million coping with the protests.
Ige’s office wouldn’t comment on the Dec. 26 deadline announced Thursday other than to say that “law enforcement officers on-site continue to talk with the protesters about restoring full public access on Mauna Kea Access Road.”
Just before Kamakau briefed the anti-TMT protesters on the deadline to clear the road, the governor painted a very different picture of his plans for Mauna Kea during an 11 a.m. press conference at the state Capitol.
The governor did not mention the Dec. 26 deadline. Instead, Ige announced that state enforcement officers would withdraw from the mountain because TMT officials said they were not going to proceed with construction at this time.
Ige said, “We have been working with the (TMT International Observatory) being prepared for them beginning construction and when we were informed that they were not going to be proceeding at this time we thought that it would be prudent to remove state personnel and start to de- escalate and return access to Mauna Kea Access Road.”
The Ige administration also distributed a memo in which Ige expressed his “severe disappointment that TMT will not move forward for now, despite months of often intense behind-the-scenes discussions” involving TMT, law enforcement and the protesters.
Gordon Squires, TMT vice president for external relations, released a statement after the governor’s news conference that said in part, “We don’t want to put our workers, the people of Hawaii, and the protesters at risk. Unfortunately, the state and Hawaii County have not demonstrated that they are able to provide safe, sustained access to Maunakea for everyone.”
Squires did not mention a pause in TMT’s plans for Mauna Kea. Squires said in the statement Mauna Kea remains TMT’s preferred site.
“The project and our individual partners are committed to moving forward in a manner that honors and supports our scientific goals, environmental stewardship and the traditions and culture of Hawai`i,” it says.
Squires denied any suggestion the project has been put on hold. But he also said he couldn’t say exactly when construction could start. He said the project was poised to start construction in July and August, but gearing up again will depend on a variety of factors, some of them out of TMT’s control.
Squires noted that weather is a concern as winter sets in on the mountain. “Wintertime construction is challenging but possible,” he said.
Even though Mauna Kea remains the preferred site for the next-generation telescope, the project’s alternative site in the Canary Islands remains very much in play. In fact, the TMT last month obtained its final permit, essentially giving the project a green light.
Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the protest leaders, said the kupuna, or elders, at the protest camp would need to meet to discuss the new deadline. But she was skeptical that the protesters would suddenly voluntarily pack up and clear out of the protest site.
Even though Ige announced Thursday morning that TMT is not ready to move forward at the moment, “there is absolutely nothing that tells us that the threat is removed,” Wong- Wilson said.
“We don’t trust government to begin with and this particular governor, so him making an obtuse statement that TMT has announced that they’re not coming for a while just doesn’t hold any water for us,” she said.
Wong-Wilson said Kamakau told the protesters that law enforcement would visit the protest site each day to ensure progress is being made on removing the tents and equipment that are blocking the Mauna Kea Access Road.
“They are simply telling us the road is now open, you’re in the way, and you have until the 26th of December over the Christmas holiday to remove any blockage of the road, and no options,” she said.
“We asked if there were other options, for example moving to the side of the road, and they were unclear about that,” Wong-Wilson said.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
BEGINNING OF THE END - POLICE TO LEAVE MAUNA KEA
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - December 19, 2019
Honolulu Star-Advertiser - December 19, 2019
Gov. David Ige plans to pull state law enforcement officers back from the scene of the protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope, at least temporarily, sources said this morning.
According to a memo distributed by the Ige administration this morning, Ige expressed his “severe disappointment that TMT will not move forward for now, despite months of often intense behind-the-scenes discussions” involving TMT, law enforcement and the protesters.
Ige has said the state and counties have spent $15 million so far coping with the protests.
The memo also said that the TMT is not immediately ready to proceed with the project, prompting Ige to notify the protesters of the temporary stand-down by law enforcement.
However, Ige has said repeatedly he still intends to reassert the “rule of law” and reopen the Mauna Kea Access Road to allow construction to resume on the $1.4 billion telescope.
The stand-down is expected to last about two months, according to one source, but it is unclear what will happen after that.
It is also unclear if the stand-down will prompt the TMT opponents to vacate the protest site they have occupied on the mountain for more than 22 weeks.
The stand-down did not appear to have taken effect as of 8 AM this morning.
A half-dozen vehicles belonging to law enforcement officers with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources remained parked above the barricade on the access road as about 30 protesters chanted and danced hula in their morning protocol.
The access road has been closed since July 15.
The protesters believe construction of TMT would be a desecration of a mountain that many Hawaiians consider sacred.
Supporters of the project including Ige say the TMT backers have secured all of the necessary permits from the state and county, and have the right to proceed with construction.
According to a memo distributed by the Ige administration this morning, Ige expressed his “severe disappointment that TMT will not move forward for now, despite months of often intense behind-the-scenes discussions” involving TMT, law enforcement and the protesters.
Ige has said the state and counties have spent $15 million so far coping with the protests.
The memo also said that the TMT is not immediately ready to proceed with the project, prompting Ige to notify the protesters of the temporary stand-down by law enforcement.
However, Ige has said repeatedly he still intends to reassert the “rule of law” and reopen the Mauna Kea Access Road to allow construction to resume on the $1.4 billion telescope.
The stand-down is expected to last about two months, according to one source, but it is unclear what will happen after that.
It is also unclear if the stand-down will prompt the TMT opponents to vacate the protest site they have occupied on the mountain for more than 22 weeks.
The stand-down did not appear to have taken effect as of 8 AM this morning.
A half-dozen vehicles belonging to law enforcement officers with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources remained parked above the barricade on the access road as about 30 protesters chanted and danced hula in their morning protocol.
The access road has been closed since July 15.
The protesters believe construction of TMT would be a desecration of a mountain that many Hawaiians consider sacred.
Supporters of the project including Ige say the TMT backers have secured all of the necessary permits from the state and county, and have the right to proceed with construction.
Monday, December 16, 2019
THE END IS NEAR - FROM A THIRTY METER TELESCOPE PRESS RELEASE
December 10, 2019
"The global TMT partnership of Japan, China, India, Canada and the U.S. wants to build the world's next generation telescope on Maunakea.
Yet, after more than a decade of working with the community and a multi-million dollar investment into Hawaii's economy, TMT must now reassess the viability of building a telescope in Hawai`i due to continuing uncertainty that there will be safe and peaceful access to the TMT site on Maunakea."
December 10, 2019
"The global TMT partnership of Japan, China, India, Canada and the U.S. wants to build the world's next generation telescope on Maunakea.
Yet, after more than a decade of working with the community and a multi-million dollar investment into Hawaii's economy, TMT must now reassess the viability of building a telescope in Hawai`i due to continuing uncertainty that there will be safe and peaceful access to the TMT site on Maunakea."
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