Aschheim conceded that he and his team have focused more on the technical demands of the Carbon Meter project than financial returns.

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To date, the LZT is largest, although India, Belgium and Canada are building the International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT), a 4-meter project which should see completion by March.

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"The day is not so far off when the mysteries of the dark ages of the Universe and the physical properties of the first galaxies will be revealed, " Masanori Iye, the leader of the Thirty Meter Telescope project at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, said in a statement.

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