Hawai`i Space Exploration Society           

The Kalākaua Project

King David Kalākaua
1836-1891

Text by Leilehua Yuen

     The Kalākaua Project is envisioned as a low-cost way for Hawai`i to participate in a lunar astronomy mission. The project is named for Hawai`i’s most progressive monarch, King David Kalākaua. Kalākaua was a strong proponent of moving Hawai`i into the modern era, and had electricity and telephones installed in `Iolani Palace, making it the first so appointed residence of any head of state in the world. Kalākaua felt that astronomy was the most noble of the sciences, and wished to confer its benefits upon the Hawaiian people to elevate and uplift them. Among his plans was to bring an astronomical telescope to Hawai`i, and eventually to build an observatory. 

     The Kalākaua Project seeks to fulfill this dream of the King by participation in building a small astronomical facility on the Lunar surface. It is hoped that the project will encourage Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians), and other disenfranchised indigenous peoples to find ways to integrate the most elevating and enlightening of modern sciences and technologies with traditional cultural beliefs and practices, and to pursue higher education in a manner which will benefit and empower small traditional communities, rather than further disenfranchise them. 

     There are very few Native Hawaiian astronomers today, a dismaying circumstance, considering that the ancestors of the modern Hawaiian were expert naked-eye astronomers. The first settlers to reach Hawai`i brought with them this “Queen of Sciences.” At a time when European sailors were confined to coasting and working sight-of-land, Polynesians used navigational astronomy to set their course across the Pacific Ocean. Once settled in Hawai`i, they used astronomy to regulate their lives, determining when to plant, when to harvest, when to rest, to celebrate, to make war. Their lives were regulated by the astral calendar.

     Today, few of the benefits of astronomy are easily available to the Native Hawaiian resident of the islands. While Mauna Kea, the sacred mountain of the Kanaka Maoli hosts over a billion dollars worth of astronomical facilities, few Native Hawaiians hold jobs there. Few are in the associated educational programs. And, few even visit the modern facilities.

     The Kalākaua Project seeks to rectify this by fulfilling the King’s dream for the benefit of the Hawaiian people. By taking a proactive role in this project, Kanaka Maoli can again chart a course to new discovery by following the stars.

      The Kalākaua Project is proposed in two parts:

      I    Mahina – Hina/Mahina, Hawaiian goddess of the Moon, escaped from her abusive husband. Taking her children, magically changed into gourds, she traveled to the moon where she now lives.

                The Kalākaua Project proposes the name Mahina for the framework of the lander. This name is appropriate because the framework will carry the various instruments, “children,” to the moon and support them.

      II   Malama – Light, month, moon. The word is symbolic of enlightenment. The Kalākaua Project proposes the name Malama for a small telescope/camera would provide streaming data. Schools, individuals, or other entities could purchase data by the minute via credit card or other means and download imagery.  

                Initial funding for this project is expected to come from financial and in-kind donations and from a variety of educational materials themed on the telescope, and focusing on astronomy from the viewpoint of Pacific Island cultures. Logo items, such as t-shirts, mouse pads, etc. would add some income as well. Once on the moon, the bulk of the funding is expected to come from the sale of data.

acknowledgments

Organizations: International Lunar Observatory Association, Space Age Publishing Company

Individuals: Sarah Burgess, Michael Cerney, Steve Durst, Koa Ell, Kimo Pihana, Chris Thomason, Jason Ventura

references

Beckwith, Martha, Hawaiian Mythology, University Press of Hawai`i, 1970, pp. 214, 221, 242-243

Handy, ES Craighill & Handy, Elizabeth Green, Native Planters in old Hawai`i, Bishop Museum Press, 1972, pp.28-41

Kalākaua, David, The Legends and Myths of Hawai`i, Charles E Tuttle Company, Tokyo, Japan, 1972, pp. 3-22.

Malo, David, Hawaiian Antiquities, Bishop Museum Press, 1951, pp. 59, 197

NASA, Living on the Moon webpage, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/news/presskits/lis_reference.html

NASA, Space Optics webpage, http://optics.nasa.gov/concept/llt.html

Trulson, Mark, Out of the Cradle webpage, http://www.outofthecradle.net/archives/2006/01/italians-plan-lunar-telescope

 

Kalākaua Project Discussion