compared with Haleakala,” Jefferies said. “It wasn’t really with the thought of transferring the observatories or initiating a new program on Maunakea. We had enough on our plate as it was.” But the results were clear as the sky above Maunakea: The conditions were the best Kuiper and Herring had seen. After the success of the test site, Kuiper, who was then the director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, approached the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for funding to build a telescope on the mountain. But NASA decided to open the competition and invited UH and Harvard University to submit proposals, in addition to the University of Arizona, according to Jefferies. “(Kuiper) wanted it for planetary studies,” said Jefferies, 92. “Harvard wanted it for general astronomy studies to support their residency program.” He saw an “enormous opportunity” for UH. “Here is a possibility for us to build an institute … that would be world-class because the site was worldclass,” Jefferies said. He proposed an 88-inch (2.2-meter) telescope, which, to Kuiper’s dismay, received NASA’s backing and $3 million. The telescope was complete in 1970 and is still in operation. “The opportunity, in fact, matured into the institute as it is today,” Jefferies said. Before the 88-inch telescope was complete, two smaller telescopes, both with 24-inch mirrors, were placed nearby, he said. The first was built in 1968 on the current site of the Hoku Kea dome. The other, built in 1970 at the site of the Gemini telescope, according to the Maunakea Astronomy Outreach Committee’s website, was later removed. Still, there were skeptics about building telescopes on a such a tall mountain, where oxygen levels are 40 percent lower than at sea level. “Some thought it was ridiculous at that height,” Jefferies said. “They didn’t think people would be able to operate.” An oxygen enrichment device was installed, but operators were able to work without it, he said. Barracks constructed at about 9,200-foot elevation were later expanded to become the Hale Pohaku mid-level facilities, which provides housing and meals for construction workers, astronomers and telescope operators. It also offers a place for them to get acclimated to the altitude. The next astronomy facilities to be built on Maunakea were the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, United Kingdom Infrared and Canada-France-Hawaii telescopes in 1979. But in the intervening years, the general feeling in the astronomy community was “wait and see,” Jefferies said. “We had a few people who came up there and decided that they wouldn’t take the risk of going there and settled on lower altitude development sites,” he said. The French took less convincing. Jefferies said France was looking across the world to build a telescope and visited Hawaii after initially settling on a site in Mexico. “I knew the people who were working on the telescope, they were good friends of mine, and I told them they were nuts not to look at Maunakea,” he said. “It’s clearly the best site in the world.” A team was sent to Hawaii to meet with him and Burns, who was “wildly enthusiastic” about it, Jefferies recalled. “They looked at those images (from Maunakea) and about three days or a week later they returned to Paris,” he said, and returned with a delegation to negotiate. Those would be some of the last telescopes before Jefferies left IfA and moved to Arizona in 1983, where he still resides. By then, there had been some opposition, mainly from hunters who were concerned about sheep being scared away and Audubon Society concerned facilities would impact the palila bird, Jefferies said. While former Hawaii County Mayor Shunichi Kimura, who held the office from 1965-1968 was supportive, Herbert Matayoshi, who was mayor from 1974 to 1984, was more critical, calling the telescopes “pimples” on the mountain. Matayoshi was part of a group that proposed limiting telescopes to six, Jefferies said. There are now 13, though some are slated for removal. While most people continue to support the observatories, he said his only regret is not reaching out more to the Hawaii Island community and making it more “part of the program” during his tenure. “I thought having interaction with the mayor and the council was sufficient,” Jefferies said. “I thought that would be carried through to the public, but it wasn’t.” At the time, he said cultural concerns with use of Maunakea weren’t being expressed, though they would later become a significant source of opposition. Looking back, he marvels at the telescopes’ contributions to science and humanity’s understanding of the universe. “I always thought what we were doing, I think this is consistent with (Burns’) thought when we first started out on this, was to build something that would be a source of pride for the people of the islands,” Jefferies said. “It’s something that contributes to human knowledge … I still think that’s the case.” Email Tom Callis at tcallis@ hawaiitribune-herald.com. 8 Sunday, December 24, 2017 INSTITUTE From page 4 Courtesy of UH-Manoa Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope groundbreaking on July 2, 1974. From left: Guy Vachon, Rev. Israel Kamoku, John Jefferies, Roger Cayrel, Kenneth Wright and John Hoag. Hawaii Tribune-Herald
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