243
In October 2018, during the commemorative events to mark the thirtieth
anniversary of the Sky Law (see Chap. 14), the TMT’s head of operations,
Christophe Dumas, insisted:
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is fully capable of meeting the scientific
objectives of the TMT, given the characteristics of the atmosphere at visible and
near-infrared wavelengths, which are similar to those in Hawaii. Furthermore,
the atmosphere above La Palma is stabilized by the ocean; it is a clean atmosphere without turbulence, above the sea of clouds. Most importantly, this
Observatory already has the necessary infrastructure, and that greatly reduces
the costs.
After all that has been said here, readers might be curious to know what the
causes were that led to Spain losing Europe’s giant telescope. If it was not for
scientific, economic, operational, or security reasons, they would have to look
for more confused motives, perhaps Spain’s lack of interest in basic science,
perhaps in vested interests or personal quarrels, or perhaps underlying fears.
In other words, matters concerning human nature. This is not the place for
me to enter into such a complex analysis. I am simply relating some of the
facts for readers to draw their own conclusions.
On record and noteworthy are the efforts of the Chilean government to
take very serious steps to get the E-ELT located in their country. Not only did
they set up a high-level working group for the purpose, headed by the President
of the Republic himself, along with all the ministers concerned in the matter,
but they also took direct action in the member state countries of ESO through
their ambassadors. After the tragic earthquake of 27 February 2010, alarm
bells were sounded and the government initiated a diplomatic offensive. What
I am relating here was reported chapter and verse in epic style in the Chilean
newspaper El Mercurio on 2 May 2010. To complicate matters yet further,
events coincided with a change of government. On taking over from Bachelet,
Piñera immediately took the reins and went to see President Lula and managed to get Brazil to make known that it wished to join ESO and was willing
to meet the shortfall for the construction of the E-ELT, the same amount of
300,000,000 euros that Spain had put on the table to ensure that the telescope would go to La Palma. Incidentally, Brazil still has not kept its promise
and there are no signs that it is going to join ESO. The newspaper stressed
that they were very worried in Chile because, ‘Spain had the advantage of
being a member of ESO, which gave it a voice inside the organization’.
The contrast with Spain was sobering. The apathy with which the government of Mr Zapatero treated the question of acquiring the giant European
22 The European Extremely Large Telescope…
In October 2018, during the commemorative events to mark the thirtieth
anniversary of the Sky Law (see Chap. 14), the TMT’s head of operations,
Christophe Dumas, insisted:
Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is fully capable of meeting the scientific
objectives of the TMT, given the characteristics of the atmosphere at visible and
near-infrared wavelengths, which are similar to those in Hawaii. Furthermore,
the atmosphere above La Palma is stabilized by the ocean; it is a clean atmosphere without turbulence, above the sea of clouds. Most importantly, this
Observatory already has the necessary infrastructure, and that greatly reduces
the costs.
After all that has been said here, readers might be curious to know what the
causes were that led to Spain losing Europe’s giant telescope. If it was not for
scientific, economic, operational, or security reasons, they would have to look
for more confused motives, perhaps Spain’s lack of interest in basic science,
perhaps in vested interests or personal quarrels, or perhaps underlying fears.
In other words, matters concerning human nature. This is not the place for
me to enter into such a complex analysis. I am simply relating some of the
facts for readers to draw their own conclusions.
On record and noteworthy are the efforts of the Chilean government to
take very serious steps to get the E-ELT located in their country. Not only did
they set up a high-level working group for the purpose, headed by the President
of the Republic himself, along with all the ministers concerned in the matter,
but they also took direct action in the member state countries of ESO through
their ambassadors. After the tragic earthquake of 27 February 2010, alarm
bells were sounded and the government initiated a diplomatic offensive. What
I am relating here was reported chapter and verse in epic style in the Chilean
newspaper El Mercurio on 2 May 2010. To complicate matters yet further,
events coincided with a change of government. On taking over from Bachelet,
Piñera immediately took the reins and went to see President Lula and managed to get Brazil to make known that it wished to join ESO and was willing
to meet the shortfall for the construction of the E-ELT, the same amount of
300,000,000 euros that Spain had put on the table to ensure that the telescope would go to La Palma. Incidentally, Brazil still has not kept its promise
and there are no signs that it is going to join ESO. The newspaper stressed
that they were very worried in Chile because, ‘Spain had the advantage of
being a member of ESO, which gave it a voice inside the organization’.
The contrast with Spain was sobering. The apathy with which the government of Mr Zapatero treated the question of acquiring the giant European
22 The European Extremely Large Telescope…