In January 1982, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved a plan to support the continued development of scientific facilities at the site. This led the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prepare an initial management plan, drafted in 1977 and supplemented in 1980. However, local organizations started to raise concerns about the environmental impact of the observatory. In 1973, Canada and France agreed to build the 3.6 m CFHT on Mauna Kea. By 1970, two 24 in (0.6 m) telescopes had been constructed by the United States Air Force and Lowell Observatory.
Other groups began requesting subleases on the newly accessible mountaintop. Building began in 1967 and first light was seen in 1970. Jefferies would build a 2.24 meter telescope with the State of Hawaiʻi agreeing to build a reliable, all weather roadway to the summit. Testing also determined Mauna Kea to be superb for nighttime viewing due to many factors, including the thin air, constant trade winds and being surrounded by sea. After considerable testing by Jefferies' team, the best locations were determined to be near the summit at the top of the cinder cones. Kuiper would abandon his site (the very first telescope on Mauna Kea) over the competition and begin work in Arizona on a different NASA project. While large telescopes are not ordinarily awarded to universities without well-established astronomers, Jefferies and UH were awarded the NASA contract, infuriating Kuiper, who felt that "his mountain" had been "stolen" from him. The proposal was for a two-meter telescope to serve both the needs of NASA and the university. Jefferies had gained his reputation through observations at Sacramento Peak Observatory. Professor of physics, John Jefferies of the University of Hawaii placed a bid on behalf of the university. NASA, in turn decided to make the project open to competition. : 25 Next, Kuiper tried enlisting NASA to fund a larger facility with a large telescope, housing and other needed structures. The peak was the second highest on the mountain with the highest peak being holy ground, so Kuiper avoided it. Burns to bulldoze a dirt road to the summit where he built a small telescope on Puʻu Poliʻahu, a cinder cone peak. After testing, he discovered the low humidity was perfect for infrared signals. Kuiper began looking into the possibility of an observatory on Mauna Kea. While the summit is often covered with snow, the air is extremely dry. On the "Big Island" of Hawaiʻi, Mauna Kea is considered the highest island mountain in the world. Tests on Maui's Haleakalā were promising, but the mountain was too low in the inversion layer and often covered by clouds. While he first began looking in Chile, he also made the decision to perform tests in the Hawaiian Islands. Significantly predating the current observatories there is evidence of active astronomy on Mauna Kea in the 1901 Land Office Map of the Island of Hawaii showing the "Hawaii Astronomy Station" near the Mauna Kea summit.Īfter studying photos for NASA's Apollo program that contained greater detail than any ground-based telescope, Gerard Kuiper began seeking an arid site for infrared studies. The location is near ideal because of its dark skies from lack of light pollution, good astronomical seeing, low humidity, high elevation of 4,205 meters (13,796 ft), position above most of the water vapor in the atmosphere, clean air, good weather and low latitude location. The presence and continued construction of telescopes is highly controversial due to Mauna Kea's centrality in native Hawaiian religion and culture, as well as for a variety of environmental reasons. The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture.
The facilities are located in a 525-acre (212 ha) special land use zone known as the "Astronomy Precinct", which is located within the 11,228-acre (4,544 ha) Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The Mauna Kea Observatories ( MKO) are a group of independent astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, United States.
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