Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie today said the selection of Mauna Kea as the preferred site for a new telescope to be built by an international partnership will infuse a potential investment of $1 billion to the Big Island, including millions of dollars to community outreach programs over the life of the 50-year project.

Abercrombie, a supporter of the project, hailed the announcement today in Pasadena, California that TMT Observatory Corporation selected Mauna Kea over Cerro Armazones in Chile as the site for its “Thirty Meter Telescope” project.

“The telescope’s scientific implications are absolutely astounding. What’s equally incredible is TMT’s commitment to a community benefits program valued at $1 million each year over the telescope’s 50-year lease,” said Abercrombie who has long supported the TMT proposal and urged the partnership in a July 17, 2009 letter to make Mauna Kea, Hawaii the final choice. “The benefits program will be a community-managed fund supporting a range of possibilities such as education, workforce development, and other programs that will engage our university system and others to prepare Hawaii’s children for jobs in and related to astronomy.

 
A rendering of the Thirty Meter Observatory.

“TMT has already stepped up in these economic times to demonstrate its commitment to the community by supporting robotics education in Hawaii and making up a budget shortfall in the highly successful Akamai Internship Program on Maui and the Big Island which has advanced Hawaii students in science, engineering and technology careers. TMT is enhancing a productive, international partnership in astronomy that is growing in Hawaii and our university system—most notably at the University of Hawaii at Hilo,” Abercrombie added.

The announcement concludes a year-long competition between the final two sites and a global satellite survey by TMT that narrowed the possible locations to five around the world, based on their atmospheric and meteorological conditions.

“It is a planetary imperative to reach out into the universe from Mauna Kea, the most exceptional viewing area on earth for world-class telescopes,” said Abercrombie. “This announcement strengthens Hawaii’s vital role in the terrestrial-based exploration of our universe and the future growth of an important part of the local high-technology industry.”

TMT is a partnership involving California Institute of Technology, the University of California, and ACURA, an organization of Canadian universities, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. In a news release today, TMT said the Thirty Meter Telescope “will be able to study the universe as clearly as if the telescope were in space.”

TMT also said before construction can begin on Mauna Kea, the project must submit and have approved an application for Conservation District Use Permit from the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources. The application will be done through the community-based Office of Mauna Kea Management, which oversees the Mauna Kea summit as part of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The community benefits program will start after the project completes the application process.

Mauna Kea was the final choice because of its atmospheric conditions, low average temperatures, and very low humidity which “will open an exciting new discovery space using adaptive optics and infrared observations,” said Edward Stone, a Caltech professor of Physics and vice chairman of the TMT Board, in a news release. “Working in concert with the partners’ existing facilities on Mauna Kea will further expand the opportunities for discoveries.”

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