The plan also envisions another astronomy project that doesn’t involve any new telescopes. Some would only be about 2 meters in diameter to fill the need for smaller telescopes, according to the draft master plan. And not all new telescopes would be as large as the TMT. The plan calls for no more than nine telescopes on the summit after 2033. The new draft master plan also envisions downsizing living and food facilities at Hale Pohaku in anticipation of most astronomy work being done remotely. UH’s objectives, as detailed in a new draft master plan, are to maintain its status as a leader in astronomy, expand scientific research on Mauna Kea beyond astronomy and find balance between that research, cultural practices and public activities. The decommissioning projects are being undertaken in accordance with UH plans that lay out what the observatory district at the top of Mauna Kea should look like. Public meetings on the draft environmental assessment are set to start Tuesday. Tearing down the 300,000 pound dome, cleaning and filling a cesspool and other activities are expected to cost Caltech about $4 million, according to a draft environmental assessment.Ĭaltech says it may preserve the telescope to use at another astronomy site, but one has not been selected yet. The nearby Caltech telescope is set to be taken down starting next summer. Greg Chun, UH’s director of Mauna Kea stewardship, said that UH Hilo’s astronomy program evaluated about a dozen other sites before deciding that Hale Pohaku would be the best place to accommodate students and the research they would do. William Freitas, a Hilo activist who has opposed TMT, asked why the new telescope couldn’t be located at the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo. Preliminary drawings show the dome of that telescope being no taller than nearby single-story dormitories. Cordoning off the area, which would happen in a full historical restoration, could mean those visitors would try to park in other areas of the summit, Scheffel said.Ī significantly smaller teaching telescope is expected to be set up at the Hale Pohaku site at the base of the summit. The site would be leveled and could be used as a public parking area for visitors to the summit. Planners instead expect to partially restore the site by removing any human-made materials. That was considered, but determined to not be feasible for a variety of reasons,” Scheffel said, adding that the site has already been disturbed by past construction, and that fill materials wouldn’t be suitable for habitats for the wekiu bug endemic to the Mauna Kea summit. “We aren’t taking it back to the historical conditions. In this case, that might not be feasible, according to Jennifer Scheffel, a senior environmental planner with SSFM. The goal for most telescope decommissioning is to return the site to its natural state. Underground cables will also be taken out. The teaching telescope will be removed, along with a nearby utility building and lunch room. The work is expected to cost about $1 million and has already been funded by the Legislature. On Wednesday, a project team from SSFM International, a UH consultant, held a public meeting to detail how the Hoku Kea telescope will be removed. Screenshot: California Institute of Technology The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory is one of two telescopes on Mauna Kea set to be decommissioned in the coming years. The project faces legal challenges at an alternate site in Spain’s Canary Islands, as well as here in Hawaii. Meanwhile, the Thirty Meter Telescope team is still seeking funding and continuing work on the project that stalled in 2019. The Hoku Kea UH teaching telescope and the 10-meter Caltech Submillimeter Observatory would be the first modern observatories on Mauna Kea to be decommissioned - meaning no other telescopes will take their place.īoth higher education institutions are soliciting public comments on environmental reports that detail how the telescopes will be removed and the safeguards each project will take to protect the surrounding environment. The University of Hawaii and the California Institute of Technology are embarking on projects to take down two telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea as part of a broader initiative by the state to limit the number of telescopes on the mountain in anticipation of the Thirty Meter Telescope’s eventual construction.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |