(AP) — An independent review of the state of astronomy and astrophysics in the U.S. recommends federal funding of a giant telescope in Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiʻi Tribune-Herald reports the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey warns it could be “disastrous” for U.S. astronomy if the National Science Foundation does not invest in projects like the Thirty Meter Telescope. The report recommends the U.S. government fund several large astronomy projects. But the report also highlights astronomy’s problems with Indigenous people. Some Native Hawaiians consider the proposed site for the telescope, on the Big Island’s Mauna Kea, to be sacred and have protested to block construction at the summit.

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