Thirty Meter Telescope planned for Hawaii’s Mauna Kea summit marks scientific milestone

The international scientific partners in the $1.3 billion Thirty Meter Telescope project in Hawaii said Friday that they have signed a master agreement, a formal document that defines the project’s goals and establishes a governance structure for what will be one of the world’s largest telescopes.
The project is a partnership formed by research universities, including the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, as well as the governments of the United States, China, India, Japan and Canada.
The project also has major funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
“The signing of this master agreement marks a major milestone in the official commitment to and formalization of this global collaboration, ensuring that the TMT project is on schedule and progressing smoothly,” Henry Yang, chair of the TMT collaborative board, said in a statement. “We have been working towards this moment for a long time and this is a special day for astronomy’s next-generation observatory.”
The next step is to document and finalize the funding plan.
“With the scientific authorities now all on board, we welcome and look forward to the critical support of the remaining financial authorities in advancing the TMT project,” Yang said.
In April, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources granted the University of Hawaii Hilo a conservation district use permit for the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in April 2014.

Janis L.Magin

Related links:

Big Island

Industries:

Technology

Source