The removal of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) from atop Mauna Kea will finally occur in late spring. The $4 million-plus removal and site restoration will be quite an undertaking, to involve huge dismantled parts coming down the mountain and temporary road closures.

CSO is to be the first of five observatories earmarked for decommissioning to make way for the Thirty Meter Telescope. But given pushback against TMT, it remains to be seen how things will unfold as mauna management transitions over the next five years to the new Maunakea Stewardship Oversight Authority, and away from the University of Hawaii.