tmt rejects spain funding la palma telescope

TMT rejects Spain’s funding bid for La Palma telescope

Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.

The executive director of the TMT International Observatory (TIO), Robert Kirshner, has issued a statement on Spain’s funding proposal to host the giant telescope, explaining that following the TIO’s letter of 18 September to Minister Morant, “we want to share more details about our decision. The TIO partners gave Spain’s funding proposal thorough and careful consideration, and ultimately were unable to accept the proposal.”

No place for Roque de los Muchachos in current plans

“Therefore, the TIO is not currently considering Roque de los Muchachos, although we recognise that the Spanish proposal was innovative and solid. The TIO will respectfully continue to seek the TMT site at its initial location in Hawaii,” he adds.

Financing a project on the scale of the TMT across several countries and with a useful life of 50 years is complex. “Those were the challenges for us to resolve, not Spain’s. To be clear, the TIO’s decision does not reflect any deficiency in the work of the Spanish team.”

Months of joint work on engineering, cost and schedule

“The TIO analysed this proposal seriously. For many months, our teams worked with our Spanish colleagues on the engineering, cost and schedule for the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory,” he adds.

He goes on to thank the Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, “for her leadership in representing this proposal. We are especially grateful to the secretary general, Eva Ortega Paño, the director general of CDTI, José Moisés Martín Carretero, and the director of the IAC, Valentín Martínez Pillet, together with the Ministry, the CDTI, the EIB and the ICO. At all times, they worked with us with rigour, creativity and good faith, listening carefully to the concerns of our partners and constantly seeking ways to address them. Their commitment to this project was extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful for their continued efforts,” he states.

Thanks to the Canary Islands government and La Palma council

“We thank the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de La Palma for their support for the project. This outcome does not diminish the TIO’s appreciation for Spain’s remarkable commitment to the project, the scientific excellence of the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, nor the international prestige of the IAC. We value our relationship with Spain and welcome continued dialogue on scientific collaboration,” the statement concludes.

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