Hawaii Receives Air Force Telescope for Satellite Tracking, Viewing

A 10,000-ft-high mountain in Maui, Hawaii, is home to one of the world's largest telescopes. The US Air Force presented the new telescope at a July ceremony attended by Hawaii's US Sen. Daniel Inouye, US Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Patsy Mink and Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano. Built at Phillips Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., the telescope features a primary mirror 13 ft in diameter. The $150 million instrument is housed in a 41,000-sq-ft facility featuring a 90-ft-diameter retractable dome that protects the telescope from adverse weather. The telescope will collect its first images from space by the end of September.