HILO » After years of challenges, groundbreaking begins Tuesday on one of the world’s largest optical telescopes, which will rise out of sacred Hawaiian ground at an elevation of 13,150 feet near the summit of Mauna Kea.
The $1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory holds the promise of allowing earthbound astronomers to "see as close to the origins of the universe as mankind can see," University of Hawaii President David Lassner said in a statement. "With the Thirty Meter Telescope, we will be able to see further and deeper back in time than ever before. The University of Hawaii is honored to play a role in bringing this dream to reality and deepening human understanding of our origins."
It could begin operations in 2021, about 1.5 miles northwest of eight optical/infrared observatories already atop Mauna Kea.
But long before then, six people who lost a Circuit Court case in April that allowed ground to be broken on the Thirty Meter Telescope plan to appeal to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.
On Tuesday they’ll again protest a telescope that they consider unnecessary and a desecration of sacred land.
"It’s a completely nonviolent action, and we’ll be completely in prayer and worship and sending love and aloha and healing to the mountain," said Deborah Ward, one of the six people who have been arguing against development on Mauna Kea since 2009. She has the same name as the spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources but is unrelated.
"It’s hard for us to imagine ground is being broken," Ward said.
But Guenther Hasinger, director of UH’s Institute for Astronomy, said, "The majority of the population is looking forward to it."
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$1.3 BILLION
Estimated cost of the project
7
Number of years it is expected to take to be operational
13,150
Number of feet above sea level atop Mauna Kea’s summit; about 1.5 miles northwest of eight existing observatories
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The Thirty Meter Telescope will be Mauna Kea’s 11th — and largest — telescope, with a radius of 108 feet and a height of 184 feet with a mirror nearly 100 feet across.
It will sit on 11,288 acres of land that the University of Hawaii leases from DLNR. Of the leased land, 525 acres are designated as the "Astronomy Precinct."
UH officials are asking the state to extend the master lease through 2078, which will require an environmental impact statement that is certain to be greeted with criticism.
"Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the Pacific and is the reason we have water," said Hawaii island resident Michael Pierron. "And you’re going to build a skyscraper on top of that?"
The project is expected to employ 300 full-time construction workers that TMT says will be unionized members.
Once it opens, the Thirty Meter Telescope is expected to employ a staff of 120 to 140 people, and TMT officials say they want to train and hire as many Hawaii island workers as possible.
The TMT International Observatory driving the Thirty Meter Telescope comprises members from five countries representing the California Institute of Technology, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences in Japan and the University of California. India will join the TMT project in the fall as a full member, followed by Canada in the spring.
While grading and other site preparation will begin Tuesday, work already is underway on various aspects of the telescope in China, Japan, India, Canada and California.
TMT officials say they’re committed to responsibly developing Mauna Kea under rules governed by the Office of Mauna Kea Management.
With groundbreaking on Tuesday, TMT will make the first of three $300,000 annual contributions to the Mauna Kea Management Board, and 20 percent will go to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The amount of the contributions will increase steadily as the Thirty Meter Telescope nears completion. Then in the 11th year, TMT will increase its payments to $1 million annually.
TMT representatives also established the Hawaii Island New Knowledge fund, which will provide an annual amount of $1 million for science, technology, engineering and math education on Hawaii island.
But on Tuesday astronomers around the world will be busy thinking of the possibilities from the latest telescope to look at the sky from on top of Mauna Kea.
Michael Bolte, an astronomer with the University of California at Santa Cruz, says the Thirty Meter Telescope could play a key role in solving some of the biggest mysteries of the universe, including where we come from.
"We believe that if we can continue to look back, we could see the big bang and the origin of the universe," Bolte said. "It’s part of this great appreciation for exploration. Humans seem to be interested in everything, including the universe they live in."
