The controversial Thirty-Meter Telescope, which was set to become the new largest telescope in the world, just had its construction permit retracted by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
From the beginning, the telescope has been under fire from locals wanting to protect their homeland and scientists who would really like another massive telescope and don’t care near as much about preserving Hawaiian cultural beliefs.
You can’t blame the locals because it’s not like the Thirty-Meter Telescope is the first to be constructed on the flanks of Mauna Kea volcano.
In fact, there are already 13 observatories located on the volcano!
For now, the construction permit has been revoked because the state Board of Land and Natural Resources failed to hold proper hearings in response to protesters before giving out the permit.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens with the $1.4 billion project, a collaboration between Canada, China, India, Japan, and the United States, which is now in limbo.
