220
began to accumulate treasury residues that permitted its Director to undertake the construction of the telescope and keep the first years of its operation
solvent. There can be no doubt that Fernando Aldana, fully in favour of the
project, put his heart and soul into helping us make it a reality. In the two
years that he ran OCYT, before that entity gave way to the new Ministry of
Science and Technology, GRANTECAN became economically secure, but it
must be added that he faced stiff resistance. For that reason, he has a wellearned place among the key figures of the GTC. Having fallen from grace
sometime later, he was overlooked in the inaugural celebrations. Thus are
some repaid for their efforts. But he is not forgotten at the IAC, and we were
able to get the International Astronomical Union to get an asteroid
2
named
after him.
To summarize, in 1996 we began the conceptual design, published in May
1997, and followed on with the preliminary design. The detailed designs were
undertaken from 1999, with funding now secured. That same year we signed
2 Minor Planet 44103 (Aldana).
Fig. 21.1 The author explains the workings of the future GTC to HRH Prince Felipe in
the presence of the President of the Local Canarian Government. (Credit: IAC)
F. Sánchez
began to accumulate treasury residues that permitted its Director to undertake the construction of the telescope and keep the first years of its operation
solvent. There can be no doubt that Fernando Aldana, fully in favour of the
project, put his heart and soul into helping us make it a reality. In the two
years that he ran OCYT, before that entity gave way to the new Ministry of
Science and Technology, GRANTECAN became economically secure, but it
must be added that he faced stiff resistance. For that reason, he has a wellearned place among the key figures of the GTC. Having fallen from grace
sometime later, he was overlooked in the inaugural celebrations. Thus are
some repaid for their efforts. But he is not forgotten at the IAC, and we were
able to get the International Astronomical Union to get an asteroid
2
named
after him.
To summarize, in 1996 we began the conceptual design, published in May
1997, and followed on with the preliminary design. The detailed designs were
undertaken from 1999, with funding now secured. That same year we signed
2 Minor Planet 44103 (Aldana).
Fig. 21.1 The author explains the workings of the future GTC to HRH Prince Felipe in
the presence of the President of the Local Canarian Government. (Credit: IAC)
F. Sánchez