Posts: 664
Threads: 67
Joined: Mar 2016
This was sort of buried in the TMT thread, so I thought since it is somewhat unrelated to the court case I'd post it as a new topic.
For those who don't know, Hokukea is the educational telescope that Ige told the protestors he would remove to help pave the way for TMT by reducing the physical number of telescopes on Maunakea.
This is Ige's 10 point plan for Maunkea. It includes:
Three decommissionings (25 percent of summit observatories) have been announced: Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), UH Hilo Hoku Kea and UKIRT, accelerating the commitments in the CMP. http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2016/05/25/uh...-maunakea/
Keahi Warfield (from PUEO and KOYD) speaks about TMT and Mauna Kea to Ige and presents his own 10 point plan for the future for keeping Hokukea and for Mauna Kea.
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2016/1...nt-vision/
Posts: 4,250
Threads: 96
Joined: Mar 2014
Shame that Ige has no clue about the benefits of the array and some of the accomplishments.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6639
"But observations taken at longer, sub-millimeter wavelengths in 2004, by the Submillimeter Array in Hawaii..."
There are hundreds of examples. Ige is basically an idiot.
Posts: 2,151
Threads: 73
Joined: Mar 2007
Ige is clueless on so many levels that it's not even funny. He has been particularly inept on the TMT issue from the start.
Posts: 10,236
Threads: 345
Joined: Apr 2009
I think some clarification is needed here.
None of the three telescopes chosen to be decommissioned were chosen by Ige. I agree he has been particularly useless, but his plan was to reduce the number of observatories by 25% by the time TMT becomes operational. The actual observatories to face decommissioning were chosen by the IfA at UH Manoa after Ige announced his "plan".
The first two were obvious choices, the Hokukea and the CSO. The former has not worked since UH replaced the old 24-inch telescope with a larger one several years ago. The CSO was being decommissioned anyway, nothing to do with the TMT or Ige, and has been non-operational for some months. It will be removed from the summit area in the next couple of years. The link leilanidude posted mentions observations from the Submillimeter Array, which is not the CSO.
UKIRT was chosen for non-science reasons. It remains in the top three scientifically productive telescopes on the planet, but since the UK withdrew funding for UKIRT, it was taken over by UH and therefore became an easy target. The obvious candidate to be decommissioned was the UH-2.2 meter telescope, which is spectacularly unproductive, but UH wants to keep that site for future development, which it can't do if the observatory is removed.
Posts: 14,116
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
reduce the number of observatories by 25%
I somehow doubt that removing a telescope "un-desecrates" the land underneath.
Posts: 11,030
Threads: 751
Joined: Sep 2012
doubt that removing a telescope "un-desecrates" the land underneath.
Perhaps someone could ask a protector if they have a 10 Boulder Plan to un-desecrate Mauna Kea.
No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly; and this self-deceit is yet stronger with respect to the offspring of the mind. -Miguel de Cervantes, novelist (1547-1616)
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves