Hundreds of protesters refuse to rise on the eve of the launch of the Hawaii telescope project: NPR

About 300 protesters are trying to put an end to the construction of the controversial thirty-meter telescope, whose developers are expected to begin work on the Big Island of Hawaii this week.

Before the sun rises on the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest mountain on the island, a group of about half a dozen protesters is chained to a grid in the road. at the foot of the dormant volcano to prevent workers from accessing the only paved road on what they say is a sacred site.

Imai Winchester, an Oahu teacher who was one of the protesters chained to the road, said that he had arrived around 3 am local time.

"A handful of us have engaged in this action to clear up the situation here," Winchester told KHON. The goal of civil disobedience, he said, is to inform the people about "the desecration of our lands, the inability of the state and its agencies to manage." correctly something important ".

He added that he was waiting to be arrested for the non-violent protest, but that it is "the burden of the group as well as our privilege to show our children and the rest of the world to how much we love our land ".

Daniel Meisenzahl, spokesperson for the University of Hawaii, a member of the international partnership of scientists behind the telescope, said it was unclear whether the protest had delayed the event. 39, sending construction convoys.

The TMT, as it is known, has been hotly opposed for almost a decade and the construction project has faced many delays, demonstrations and prosecutions. In October, however, a decision of the State Supreme Court allowed work to begin after the reinstatement of the building permit that had been revoked several years earlier. And last week, Governor David Ige announced that several roads would be closed as of Monday to allow the movement of large equipment on the mountain.

The giant telescope, expected to last 10 years, will be the largest instrument of its kind in the northern hemisphere and one of the most expensive.

The consortium behind the TMT International Observatory includes the University of California and the California Institute of Technology, as well as scientific institutes from Canada, Japan, China and India.

Despite its place in Hawaiian indigenous culture as a sacred land that contains ahus – Stone religious altars – and serving as a burial place for many ancestors of the island, the Mauna Kea summit is the ideal place for the mighty TMT, according to scientists.

"Located above about 40% of the earth's atmosphere, [Mauna Kea] has a particularly stable climate, dry and cold; These are all important features to capture the sharpest images and produce the best science, "said the international TMT observatory in a statement.

The extremely dry air near the summit and the absence of clouds and light pollution from this point of view in the mountains will allow a revolutionary understanding of the universe, according to the designers of telescopes. And, because of its size – "three times larger, with a surface nine times larger than the world's largest visible light telescope" – astronomers hope to learn more about the first galaxies that formed there is almost 13 billion years old. "

The mountain is already home to 13 telescopes installed in a dozen separate facilities, but five of them should be taken out of service by the end of TMT 's work. According to Meisenzahl, of the University of Hawaii, two telescopes are being dismantled and two others have been identified to be removed in the coming years. He added that a fifth telescope had not yet been selected to be removed.

"Hawaii is a unique place," Meisenzahl said, noting that protesters gathered on the mountain were participating in a form of peaceful, non-violent protest called Kapu Aloha. "It is a small island and everyone knows each other, the forces of the order and the opponents work together, despite what is happening today, the environment is positive", he added.