Grey Bird Explorations

It was 30 years ago when I first came to the summit of Maunakea. I had just moved to Hilo from Santa Fe, New Mexico having accepted an engineering position with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory.

In the intervening decades I came back and forth to that island, and that mountain, as an engineer and, later, as a visiting astronomer. In spite of living 7+ years in the Aloha State, the complexity and history of the cultures struck me as something requiring deep study to really understand.

I have been involved with the Thirty Meter Telescope project that has been much in the news. Not as a member of the project, but as one of the many contributing time to the science cases and to instrument designs.

I would like to share the recent update from the TMT project’s newsletter which features a letter from Christophe Dumas, the TMT Observatory Scientist and Head of Operations, addressing the current situation on the mountain.

I quote “We respect those who express opposition and understand the pain they feel.  However, TMT is a bystander in that conversation, which has been going on for many years.  And whether or not TMT is built in Hawaii will not bring closure to it.”

Here is the full newsletter.