Removing telescopes can take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars
As part of efforts to ease tensions surrounding the planned Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the first telescope on Hawaii's Maunakea volcano has been completely decommissioned. The dismantling of the University of Hawaii's 36-inch Hoku Kea Telescope (H?k? Ke?a) was pursuant to an agreement between the University of Hawaii and the Maunakea Office of Management and Oversight.
The move is part of a plan to decommission three observatories on Maunakea, a sacred site for Native Hawaiians. Since the 1960s, 13 telescopes have been built on the mountain, causing outrage among protesters who consider building new telescopes on this sacred site disrespectful.
The astronomy community strives to balance scientific research with the cultural needs of local Hawaiians.
As part of the deal to allow construction of the TMT, the University of Hawaii agreed to decommission the three observatories. Decommissioning Hoku Kea is the first step in that process. The process involves a thorough dismantling, removing the observatory dome, associated buildings, and infrastructure. The site will be restored to its original condition and monitored for three years to assess the impact of the restoration on local wildlife.
The future of the TMT remains uncertain. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has said it can only award funding to one of the projects: the TMT or the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in Chile. While the losing project could continue operations if sufficient private funding is available, the fate of the TMT on Maunakea is in doubt.
The decommissioning of Hoku Kea, which began in April, cost $1 million. More expensive was the decommissioning of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), which is significantly larger and has a radio antenna 10.4 meters in diameter. The dish of this submillimeter telescope, named the Leighton telescope after astronomer Robert Leighton, was dismantled shortly before Christmas 2023. Removal of the dome and the rest of the observatory's infrastructure is ongoing, at a cost of $4 million.
The third telescope to be removed will be UKIRT (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope), a 3.8-meter telescope originally owned by the United Kingdom but given to the University of Hawaii in 2014. It is currently operating in an automated mode.
Under an agreement with the Maunakea authorities, two more telescopes are also to be removed from the mountain by 2033 if TMT can find a way to continue operations.