[ExI] The Thirty Meter Telescope is now officially dead

[John Clark]

On Thu, Dec 26, 2019 at 6:16 PM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

You make excellent points.  Why can't existing telescopes be upgraded?  Why
> start from scratch in another location?
>


> Wouldn't things be much clearer with a telescope in space?
>

The James Webb telescope is far smaller than the Thirty Meter Telescope,
and as of today Webb cost 10 billion dollars, about 15 times its original
cost estimate, it was supposed to be launched in 2007 and it's still
sitting on the ground. Every year they say Webb will be launched next year,
now they say 2021. I'll believe it when I see it.

Talk of putting the Thirty Meter Telescope into space is pure fantasy, it
just ain't gonna happen.

 > I just cannot believe that there is no other location in the entire
> world that fits the needs for that telescope.
>

Superb observing locations are very rare on this planet, there are only 2
places of comparable quality and both are in the southern hemisphere;
astronomers didn't want to abandon half the universe but now they have no
choice.

 John K Clark

>
>
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