Wednesday, 16 December 2009

And a very merry Christmas to you too

We've received this year's Christmas present from the UK's Science & Technology Facilities Council. Brad at canspice.org has all the details in "The Death of UKIRT".

5 comments:

Beep said...

Beautiful photo...but I'm so sorry for the terrible news.

Aaron Stene said...

This absolutely terrible news.It will also probably cost UK more to wind down UKIRT than realize any savings from this closure.

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear this new Tom. This saddens me for the island, for science and for you. I will be following closely to see what comes form this. Please do stay in close contact via email. I have been looking forward to coming over for fish and chips!

Big Island Papa said...

Tom,
I have dealt with possible closures of programs before, and have had closures happen, but I have also had programs continue when the "Bean Counters" realize that closure would actually cost more then keeping the program open.

So far what i have read from other people, including Brad at carispice.org is that it would cost much more to shutdown UKIRT, remove it from Mauna Kea, and then reclamation of the site. Plus the joint costs with other partners is not just going to go away. So there is hope that the powers that be back in the UK will see the light and keep things as they are.

Anyway, I will pray that they keep UKIRT open.

Mahalo

Terry

Anonymous said...

Tom,
To be honest, I'm sorry for people like yourself more than anyone else. All the way over here, it's all too easy for most to forget that these things have a direct influence on people who work at these instruments.

I wish you all the best.
がんばって ます。