Funding for the Thirty Meter Telescope may be in jeopardy following a decision by the National Science Foundation board to place a $1.6 billion budget cap on giant telescope projects.
The NSF initially planned to support two telescope projects — the TMT and the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile. But the price tag on each is now approaching $3 billion.
With the cap making it so that funding would only cover part of one 30-meter telescope, board members must now choose which project gets to move forward.
Both of these giant telescopes would allow astronomers to answer questions about the physics of planet and star formation, life in other solar systems, and the beginnings of our universe, according to scientists.
Astronomer Doug Simons, head of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi, said he was surprised by the news.
"I am concerned, particularly over the duration of construction where everything just gets more expensive, that the $1.6 billion budget is enough for either telescope. It also presents an issue in terms of competitiveness with the Europeans who have a 39-meter telescope that is well under construction now in Chile," Simons said.
"Basically the U.S. proposal was to put the GMT in Chile and the TMT in Hawaiʻi so you get full-sky coverage. They’re both smaller than the European telescope but they’d have the all-sky coverage that the Europeans don’t have so that we can remain competitive."
Simons said with only one accessible giant telescope north or south of the equator, that leaves a fairly large blind spot in the sky for U.S. astronomers.
The National Science Board approved the budget cap last week and tasked the foundation to come up with a process for selecting the winning telescope by May.
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