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Mauna Kea Observatory
My Dad's story
A few years ago, I was hired as a maintenance worker to work at the Mauna Kea Observatory at the very top of the Mauna Kea volcano, at almost 14 thousand feet above sea level!
Mauna Kea Observatory in located on the Big Island of Hawaii. From the Gemini observatory office in Hilo I rode 90 minutes up to Saddle road, and beyond, to the observatory. The higher I drove, it was obvious that the vegetation was changing, and the air quality was too. They were small and subtle changes but over the course of my project I noticed them more and more. At the top of Saddle road at the cross road we would turn right to go higher still. At this point everything was distinctly different than at sea level. The quality of the sunlight was more direct and pure and the air quality was too. It was wonderful.
Hilo in August usually has temperatures of 80+ degrees. At the crossroads, at an altitude of about 7000 feet, the temperature was a comfortable 60 degrees.
From here I would go up to the Mauna Kea Observatory Visitors Center at nine thousand feet. There, we were required to stop for at least a half an hour to adapt to the climate change, because the air is much thinner at this altitude. I had breakfast there, and after a half hour, we proceeded even higher.
Here the landscape looked like a moonscape.... barren and desert-like. From this vantage point I could look down the mountain side below me... and since it was a clear day, I could see almost to Hilo bay.
When I got to the Mauna Kea Observatory at the very top I was at an altitude of 13,796 feet. I looked to the north and I could see the tops of mountains sticking up through the clouds. I saw Haleakala on Maui, and all the other volcanoes on each of the other Hawaiian islands. Here it was much colder than at the visitor center and often times a substantial breeze was blowing. Depending on conditions, I could see both sides of the island from here. I could see Kona on the west side of the island, and Hilo on the east side. Looking toward the south-east, I could see the smoke from the erupting Kiluea Caldera, blowing north. But then in the afternoon, it got cloudy, and I couldn't see anything but the cloud tops below me.
High altitudes effect people in different ways. I’ve heard that some people pass out as soon as they get out of their car and walk a short distance. Children 16 and younger are not encouraged to go to the Mauna Kea Observatory at this altitude because the low oxygen level can have a severe effect on their brains. For me, it was difficult to get a satisfying deep breath. I felt like I was on the verge of getting the flu, all the time....headachy, nauseous, sometimes it was difficult to focus mentally.... but the longer I stayed up there, the less I had those feelings. After a while I didn't feel too bad. I was glad to know that emergency oxygen was on hand, in case any of us workers needed it.
My job was as general cleanup and prepping for interior painting in one of the Mauna Kea Observatory buildings. Usually I worked alone, but one time an astronomer invited me to come with him to see how they cleaned the reflecting mirror on the huge telescope.
The telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory is the largest telescope in the world. I walked into the dome shaped observatory into a room about 80ft by 80ft and about 70ft high. The reflecting mirror was about 60ft in diameter and 5 ft thick. It was made of glass and shaped like a cylinder. The skin of the mirror was a very thin layer of aluminum, about the amount that's in a soda can, spread over the whole 60 ft surface. The aluminum was polished like a mirror. The reflecting mirror was on a support and it was standing upright, while a scientist was using a hose to spray the surface with dry ice. It was explained to me that the dry ice bonded with the dust and dirt on the mirror, which could then be easily removed.
I was told the energy ability of the mirror was about 1000 watts per square yard. Half jokingly, I asked if it had ever caught anything on fire. I was told, that in fact, this had once happened. While the telescope was being adjusted at a different observatory, the reflected rays from the sun on the mirror, caught part of the interior of the observatory on fire!
Just the idea of being on that rare place in Hawaii, where conditions are just right to peer accurately into the universe, would be a memorable experience for anybody. I was on the top of the tallest mountain in the world!
Note: Although Mount Everest has the highest altitude above sea level (29,035 feet), Mauna Kea has it's base far below the sea, and extends 13,796 feet above sea level. It's total height is 33,474 feet, therefore qualifying as the tallest mountain on earth.
This was definitely an unusual job for me. The whole environment was unique and somewhat surreal. And, it was fun watching astronomers from around the world, doing a whole bunch of space-y things that I didn't understand..... because I’m just another ordinary person.
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