Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 3, 1 Malaki 2006 — High and dry [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

High and dry

NASA pulls funding for Mauna Kea scope project

By Sterling Kini Wnng Publicatiūns Editor In what could mark the end of a controversial battle over development atop Mauna Kea, NASA has pulled funding for the controversial outrigger telescope project from its 2007 budget, whieh

was released in February. NASA's decision not to fund the long-disputed project eame as a surprise for some. The space agency had already invested about $20 million into the project since 1998 and had completed an enviromnental impact statement for its devel-

opment. But the project, whieh called for the construction of up to six 1 ,8-meter telescopes around the W.M. Keek Observatory's two existing 10-meter telescopes, may be one of many astronomy projects across the nation to fall victim to massive budget cuts by NASA. Rolf Kudritzki, director of the University of Hawai'i's Institute for Astronomy, said that NASA, facing a $2 hillion shortfall, shuffled its funding for numerous programs

in order to maintain its space shuttle program. He said that NASA's 2007 budget has "really outraged scientists across the nation." Keek Observatory director Fred Chaffee said NASA's decision not to finance the outrigger project was an "extreme disappointment. But on a bigger scale, it's a sign of the difficulty of finding funding for fundamental science in the U.S." Native Hawaiian and environmental groups have opposed the outrigger project because they believe that further development threatens the cultural and natural resources of the 13,796-foot summit, whieh according to oral traditions was the meeting plaee of the gods Wākea and Papahānaumoku, ancestors of the Hawaiian people and the Hawaiian Islands. The summit, whieh already houses 13 astronomy facilities, is also the sole habitat of the wēkiu bug, a candidate for federal listing as an endangered species. In 2002, OHA filed suit to force NASA to perform a full enviromnental impact

statement for the project. When a judge ruled partially in OHA's favor, NASA decided to voluntarily perform the EIS. Released last August, the study concluded that the project should go ahead, despite acknowledging that the construction would contribute to cumulative impacts on the mountain's environment and that an alternate site was available. An additional $20 million to $25 million is probably needed to complete the outrigger telescope project. But Kudritzki said that unless UH files for an extension, the school's building permit for the project will expire unless groundbreaking begins by this coming October. He said that it would be "fatal" and "umeasonable" to start construction on the project before the full funding is secured. Kudritzki said that there is the possibility of finding an international or private partner to finance the project. But Chaffee said that See MAUNA KEA on pagE II

NŪ HOU • NEWS

An artist's conception shows what NASA's outrigger telescopes might have looked like surrounding the existing Keek scopes. - Photo: Courtesv of ltt

MAUNA KEA

CūntinuEd fram page 8 they are still considering their options and have yet to find anything promising. The funding setback could mean the axe for the eight-year-old plan to expand the Keek Observatory. The outrigger telescopes were supposed to work in tandem with the Keck's two 10-meter telescopes, whieh are the largest in the world, to search for planets around nearby stars using a technology called interferometry. Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, a group critical of astronomy development on Mauna Kea, said that at first she was relieved by NASA's decision to not fund the outrigger telescope project. She said, however, that her relief was tempered with disappointment after she read NASA's 2007 budget. The budget said that the proposed outrigger

telescopes weren't a requirement for the Keek Observatory's interferometry project, whieh ean be operated using just the two 10meter telescopes. "It was sad to read," she said. "People have done so mueh to oppose the project, but NASA continued with it anyway. If the outriggers weren't a necessity, what was the whole point?" If the outrigger project has in fact been killed, it's a small victory for Native Hawaiian and environmental groups compared to other Mauna Kea development struggles on the horizon. The university's master plan for Mauna Kea lists several upeoming astronomy projects that many oppose, most notably the Next Generation Large Telescope, a 25- to 50-meter telescope whose footprint is estimated to be between an acre and the size of a football field. "This was just the first round," the Sierra Club's Deborah Ward said. "There's a lot more work to be done. E3