Big Court Win For The Thirty Meter Telescope
Embattled Thirty Meter Telescope scores big win in Hawaii’s highest court, Nature
“Hawaii’s supreme court has ruled in favour of building the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop the mountain Mauna Kea. The decision removes the last legal hurdle preventing the US$1.4-billion project from resuming construction on Hawaii’s Big Island. “It is a tremendously important and significant decision that provides secure legal grounds to restart construction of this transformative facility,” says Michael Balogh, an astronomer at the University of Waterloo in Canada who chairs an advisory committee that represents Canadian astronomers’ interests in the TMT.”
This is good news as it means it will be able to stay in the United States. And that the University of Hawaii will continue to be able to attract cutting edge astronomers.
It looks like public support in Hawaii is shifting in favor for it as well. There still might be some unpleasant protests, though – and I wouldn’t be surprised if TMT is the last new telescope built up there for a long time.
Hawaiian cultural practitioners should note that Pele has moved on from Mauna Kea. She is not happy that they have failed to keep up :_>
This is good news, but hopefully future telescope projects can avoid these problems by building ties with the Native Hawaian community before they start.
As I understand it, the original plans did not do a good job of considering those concerns. But the new permits actually mandate it. Still, some people aren’t satisfied, and this may be an unsolvable problem. The peak of Mauna Kea was never a religious site per se. But the whole mountain has religious significance and some people feel that large buildings, which can be seen all the down to the base of the mountain, are like graffiti on a cathedral. Since it’s hard to build a 30 meter telescope without such a large building, I don’t think there is a viable way to satisfy everyone.
As a non-religious person it can be difficult sometimes to find commonality with those who believe. My initial reaction is to scoff.
But still. Something about this just stinks.
I am not familiar with this particular situation, but if the native Hawaiian community could be given a sense of participation and ownership it might do a lot to resolve the issue, not just for the benefit of astronomy but for the benefit of members of native cultures. There are people already exploring this approach. http://www.hamakuasprings.c…
In my limited experience with the Indian Health Service here on the mainland I feel we underestimate the challange to members of native societies who must find a difficult balance between assimilation, that would effectively end thier culture as a distinct entity, and isolation, that would cut them off from modern society. For many years we have talked about the need for inspiration and involvement of young people in science. This is not a problem, it is an opportunity.
Actually they did work with the indigenous Hawaiians and the elders even did a ceremony blessing the site as they do with all public buildings. The opposition came from a vocal break away group that are in opposition to the policies the recognized groups are following. In short, it became a victim of a political battle within the community of indigenous Hawaiians.
I see. Similar social fragmentation was a problem in the Native American community where I worked. At least the economics are better in Hawaii.
“For many years we have talked about the need for inspiration and involvement of young people in science”
Why is science the focus?
In general we’ve reduced the importance of the liberal arts, to our great loss.
Actually, they spent more than half a decade at it, after the Keck outrigger fiasco. The ‘issue is that the Native Hawaiians are not a unified group. Factually, the majority support the project (jobs are scarce on the Big Island, and this would pump tens of millions per year into the local economy). But there is another fraction that won’t tolerate anything of any kind up there. The politics and history involved are extraordinarily complicated.
As a kid growing up in Hawaii I didn’t really appreciate the power and fragility of the islands.
As an adult visiting Oahu 40 years later, haoles (Hawaiian word for non-Natives) have completely reinterpreted Hawaiian life and religion with a superficial entitlement. There’s a plastic sense, almost enthrallment, naming streets, adopting Hawaiian words, all the while missing entirely the Native sensibility.
It is shameful.
TMT’s collection surface is made up of 492 1.44m segments. I find myself wondering whether anyone ever spoke with Elon Musk about making this a space telescope that could be launched by BFR. With that sort of lift capacity in our future, do we really need to be leveling mountaintops anymore?
TMT is projected to cost about $1.6 billion in today’s dollars. Imagine the cost of a new space telescope with such a large increase in aperture size. Even if the BFR would dramatically lower the launch cost, the cost of such a big space telescope would be high. Then when you consider the cost differential between repairing something like TMT (or ELT or GMT), large terrestrial observatories start to make even more sense (economic sense).
Mauna Kea is a monster size dormant (not extinct) shield volcano. There’s not much leveling of the volcano’s top to build these telescopes. I find it interesting that a few people oppose these telescopes while skiing, hiking and hunting is allowed on the mountain.