The U.S. Could Lose a Crucial Futuristic Telescope to Spain if Trump’s Budget Passes
Spain has offered to spend up to €400 million ($471 million) to host the Thirty Meter Telescope, an enormous observatory project facing imminent cancellation due to U.S. budget constraints. If Spain strikes a deal, the TMT would be built on La Palma in the Canary Islands rather than on Mauna Kea, a mountain in Hawaii. In 2016, La Palma became the backup location for the observatory in case the primary site in Hawaii didn’t work out as an option, according to the TMT International Observatory. N