There shouldn’t be concern about a proliferation of new telescopes once the Thirty Meter Telescope is constructed on Mauna Kea.

The focus of space exploration appears to be with space telescopes and related technology. Ground-based telescopes have serious limitations, as Earth’s atmosphere distorts light. This problem does not exist when the telescope is beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

The discoveries of the Hubble and Kepler space telescopes in just a few years is phenomenal, and with the new James Webb Space Telescope about to launch, the knowledge it will acquire from the exploration of even more distant stars is difficult to imagine.

Currently it is cheaper to construct and maintain a ground-based telescope; a space telescope must be small enough to launch and is too far away to be repaired. While the TMT is necessary in the short run because of the sheer power it will provide, I believe the future of space exploration lies with space telescopes along with its related technology, and not behemoths on mountaintops.

Charles St. Sure

Moiliili

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