Kitt Peak National Observatory

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Kit Peak National Observatory, (abbreviated KPNO) member of NOAO (National Optical Astronomy Observatory) is “50 minutes southwest of Tucson” in Arizona. Aden B. Meinel (the first manager) chose the mountain as the building spot for an observatory with a contract from NSF (National Science Foundation) with the land being leased from Tohono O’odham (a group of native Americans in Arizona) in 1958. The “council” approved the lease for unknown reasons in the 1950s, charging a first-time payment of $25,000 and after that $10 per acre per year. By 2005 they had 22 telescopes for eight different organisations, and after the NOAO started planning 7 more telescopes called: The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) The Tohono O’odham became angry because they were trespassing on sacred grounds, and in 2005 they took legal action on NOAO.

“Kitt Peak observatory never should have been built, The one thing that keeps bothering me, is that they want to keep building and building and building. They keep desecrating the mountain over and over again.” ~ Mildred Antone, Tohono O’odham

They attempted to stop construction of the 17 million dollar project and harassed several employees, an example would be when they stopped someone in his car. “Most Tohono O’odham are friendly, but the tribe has shown no interest in tourism.”

You could take a free virtual tour here.
You can see there hours here.