This is the point. Hawaii used to be in favor of science and astronomy, which is why they allowed the observatories in the first place. Now they are anti science and are giving over control to people who do not favor science as much as Hawaiians once did.

Who knows the needs of astronomy better than the astronomers? It isn’t the laymen who are being put in charge. Did the astronomers do a poor job of land management? No. They treated the area with respect. Those who are being put in charge fought against an improved telescope not because it would have despoiled the land but because they could. They grabbed power, and the population of Hawaii has allowed it.

George C wrote: “All that equipment got moved up the hill, it can be packed up and moved down the hill and put on ship to someplace. Nepal?”

If it were that simple, then TMT would not be dead. The astronomers spent the past decade looking for alternate sites, and if they can’t find a site for a better telescope, why would we think that they can find sites for old telescopes? The beauty of this site is that it is excellent seeing, easy to access and in a climate-friendly environment.

I can only wonder how much the astronomers’ complaints about low Earth orbit constellations influenced this decision. Why should Hawaii support earth-based astronomy if it is going to be obsolete in a couple of years anyway?

As soon as the old equipment is deemed obsolete they will lock the doors and bulldoze the building.
Even if the old mirrors could be improved with new electronics they will argue to have them shutdown instead.
Inside the next ten years nothing will be left up there.

On my show I said ‘Name me one great Hawaiian inventor. Look around the house, find me the light bulb, the automobile, or the toaster and tell me what great Hawaiian invented it’ and no one could come up with an answer. I was resting my case, which is there’s differences in people and differences in cultures. Sometimes it’s math skills and sometimes its vertical leap and sometimes its putting a pig in the ground.

And my job, as a commentator on life, is to find those differences and point them out. And it’s not to say that the guy who’s good in math is better than the guy who puts the pig in the ground, I’m just here to tell you they’re different. You can decide which ones better or worse — and a matter a fact I’d rather be the guy who puts the pig in the ground than the guy crunching numbers, the guy with the pig is enjoying himself more – and yes, I did call Hawaiians stupid on my radio show but people should try to do 3, 4 hours of radio a day unscripted.

You don’t drive into work thinking ‘I’m going to call Hawaiians stupid today’. It’s like a girl calls in and she’s like ‘I’m dating this guy from Hawaii and he tried to change the tire on my car and the car caught on fire’ and I’m like ‘well, Hawaiians are stupid’ and the next thing I know we have a problem on our hands. But, really, if your kid has a bad heart valve and they need surgery and you’ve got a Japanese doctor, an Indian doctor, a Jewish doctor, or a Hawaiian doctor which one are you picking? Then explain to me why.

https://www.miaminewtimes.com/arts/adam-carolla-explains-why-hawaiians-are-stupid-6490789?showFullText=true

oongawa!

I am sure the “New Hawaiin” law would have included language to codify the annual maidan sacrifice if Mauna Kea was still active. And, how about those post cards showing telescopes deployed on the mountain top, bearing the postal mark from the Mauna Kea visitors center? Collect all six before they’re gone.

The JWST, I call it the Webble, is another step towards space based astronomy. The Hawaiians’ have just pushed foundation funding decisions off the fence into this future.

This law was duly passed by the Hawaiian legislature as elected by the people of Hawaii. If they are unhappy with it they can elect new legislators and change the law. As a conservative it seems to me this is how a representative government is supposed to work, the scientists don’t get to override the will of the people for their pet project.

So much for that…

We need to get some imam to build a mosque up there, claim the mountain as an Islamic holy site, and just let everybody go at each other.

I still can’t understand is the ‘why’ that these people are so intent on shutting down the telescopes. Is it that they want more donations to their causes or what.

It’s time to shift to cheap, space based telescopes anyway. Give Starship year or so to get prove it’s self and we should just move astronomy off to world.