235
(OWL) promoted by ESO and destined for Chile, and another with a more
reasonably sized 50-m primary, the EURO-50, promoted by Sweden and
Spain, to be built at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. The latter project
was to prove a further bone of contention with ESO.
Carlos Westendorp, then chairman of the Industry, External Trade,
Research, and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament (he
had formerly been Minister for Foreign Affairs in Felipe González’s government) took the projects for European giant telescopes to be debated at the
European Parliament. On 27 May 2002, presentations were made by
Catherine Cesarsky, Director General of ESO, flanked by a cohort of assessors, and myself as Director of the IAC, accompanied only by my secretary,
who was at the time on a service commission in the European Commission.
ESO’s Director General spoke of the wonders of her powerful organization
and of the future glories of OWL, once set up in Chile. In my presentation, I
showed how only the EURO-50 was technically feasible at that time; by
building it in La Palma, I insisted, where there already existed an extremely
efficient multinational infrastructure and organization, effectively the
European Northern Observatory, a great deal of time and money could be
saved. Moreover, I said, being operational very quickly, it would give Europe
the edge over a similar American project. The two postures were debated and
everything was left pending further consideration, as is habitual in the
Fig. 22.1 Artist’s impression of the 100-m OWL (OverWhelmingly Large telescope)
proposed by ESO Telescope Systems Division. (Credit: ESO)
22 The European Extremely Large Telescope…
(OWL) promoted by ESO and destined for Chile, and another with a more
reasonably sized 50-m primary, the EURO-50, promoted by Sweden and
Spain, to be built at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory. The latter project
was to prove a further bone of contention with ESO.
Carlos Westendorp, then chairman of the Industry, External Trade,
Research, and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament (he
had formerly been Minister for Foreign Affairs in Felipe González’s government) took the projects for European giant telescopes to be debated at the
European Parliament. On 27 May 2002, presentations were made by
Catherine Cesarsky, Director General of ESO, flanked by a cohort of assessors, and myself as Director of the IAC, accompanied only by my secretary,
who was at the time on a service commission in the European Commission.
ESO’s Director General spoke of the wonders of her powerful organization
and of the future glories of OWL, once set up in Chile. In my presentation, I
showed how only the EURO-50 was technically feasible at that time; by
building it in La Palma, I insisted, where there already existed an extremely
efficient multinational infrastructure and organization, effectively the
European Northern Observatory, a great deal of time and money could be
saved. Moreover, I said, being operational very quickly, it would give Europe
the edge over a similar American project. The two postures were debated and
everything was left pending further consideration, as is habitual in the
Fig. 22.1 Artist’s impression of the 100-m OWL (OverWhelmingly Large telescope)
proposed by ESO Telescope Systems Division. (Credit: ESO)
22 The European Extremely Large Telescope…