Astronomy
Protesters on the driveway
The project is the largest optical instrument on Earth, thirty-meter-long telescope, which was deployed on mount Mauna Kea, back to the very beginning of his difficult journey. On Thursday, the judge of the Supreme court of Hawaii ruled that the organizers of the project will need to reassemble the permit for its construction.
The trial was initiated by a group of religious citizens, the inhabitants of the island of Hawaii, on which is the volcano Mauna Kea. A group of activists of Sacred Mauna Kea opposes the construction, claiming that it will be a “desecration” of their Holy mountain. The plaintiffs accused the Hawaiian Bureau of land resources [Board of Land and Natural Resources, BLNR] that it issued the construction permit, without giving the opportunity to protest against him.
The Hawaiians consider Mauna Kea is a symbolic navel of the island, connected with the heavens, where the souls of their ancestors, and cannot be applied to human activities and to deploy the construction. Despite this, since 1964, when the mountain road was built, eleven countries already somehow built on the mountain thirteen different telescopes.
The unique properties of the mountains and its convenient location conducive to installation on top of astronomical equipment. Unfortunately, even in the 21st century religion and superstition can quite successfully resist technological progress.
Mauna Kea was chosen as the site for the construction of the telescope in 2009. In 2011, the Committee received all the necessary permits from the BLNR, however, they were challenged in court. Only in 2013, all disputes were seemingly resolved. In 2014, it was announced the beginning of construction. However, builders are faced with the protests of local religious activists, even below them to block the road leading to the construction site. In December 2015 the construction permit was withdrawn and last week the decision was upheld by the Supreme court of the state.
