Foundation exploring TMT ahead of funding decision

The National Science Foundation is continuing its informal outreach efforts in Hawaii as part of a campaign that could help to determine whether it will award hundreds of thousands of dollars to the stalled Thirty Meter Telescope project.

In a meeting Tuesday of the foundation’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee, officials said they’ve already conducted 53 virtual meetings with more than 100 people in Hawaii on both sides of the controversial issue.

“We’ve spoken thus far to everyone who is active on both sides who have reached out to us, and now we’re going to go into a phase where we’re going to be a little more proactive and identify and reach out to individuals and groups we think we’ve missed out on,” said David Boboltz, program director with the foundation’s Division of Astronomical Sciences.

The effort is aimed at helping the nation’s top funder of basic scientific research decide whether to consider awarding as much as $850 million to the next- generation TMT, which is now estimated to cost $2.4 billion following years of construction delays.

In order to obtain the extra funding, the TMT teamed up with the Giant Magellan Telescope, which is planned for Chile, and the U.S. National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory to propose a U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program.

The partnership proposes to offer American astronomers viewing coverage of 100% of the sky in both the Northern (TMT) and Southern (GMT) hemispheres.

Last year officials with the TMT and GMT jointly made a presentation to the U.S. National Academies Astro2020 panel, which is working toward a series of recommendations to projects for future funding. The proposal calls for funding of $850 million to each of the cutting-edge projects.

The NSF is expected to make some major funding decisions in the next year based on the recommendations of the Astro2020 panel’s once-a-decade survey, as well as the priorities and budgets of the new presidential administration.

Construction of the TMT was blocked in 2015, when scores of mostly Native Hawaiian protesters prevented work vehicles from traveling up Mauna Kea Access Road, and the state Supreme Court later invalidated the project’s work permit.

After gaining the right to proceed with construction a second time, the project last year was stopped again on the access road by thousands of protesters, many of whom regard the mountain as sacred to the Hawaiian people.

Construction is currently on hold until at least spring, in part because the coronavirus pandemic has complicated the logistics of the project, the TMT announced in July.

Boboltz said NSF officials are looking for trends and themes both pro- and anti- TMT during their informal “talk-story sessions,” which are being conducted online due to COVID-19. He said they’re hoping to uncover “potential future mitigation efforts,” including ideas for how to address cultural impacts.

Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the leading TMT opponents, said the NSF has reached out to her, but she has declined to participate so far. She said she would rather wait to provide her input after federal environmental laws require it.

“It’s a fishing expedition,” she said. “If you’re going to initiate a formal process, I’ll wait until there’s a formal process initiated.”