With the benefit of hindsight, the biggest mistake that I made in life was working in the toxic field of high altitude astronomy.

Very high altitude extreme night shift work is a class 2A carcinogen that may result in lifelong disabling sleep disorders, high cholesterol, radiation sickness and heart, lung and brain damage.

Extreme night shift work in high altitude astronomy is easily avoidable by using a split night shift where the first night shift starts before sunset and finishes at midnight and the second night shift starts with a new fresh person working through to after sunrise.

Research suggests that sea level adapted humans that work at the very high altitude 13,796 feet summit of Mauna Kea may eventually develop sleep apnea and fatigue from the low oxygen environment.

While it would have been easier to jump off a cliff, developing the diagnosis and treatment of High Altitude Observatory Disease (HAOD) was a problem that needed to be solved.

I worked on Mauna Kea for over five years and saw my health severely degrade during that time. The two long term summit workers that I knew well died of disease conditions, another worker went on to commit suicide, and others were argumentative.

It always bothered me that one of my friends at the summit of Mauna Kea committed suicide. Many years later I discovered that the very high altitude summit is biologically toxic to sea level adapted humans.

Pilots have an established history of committing mass murder during their suicides.

High altitude workers are typically recruited from all over the world and relocated to the remote astronomical observatory area. The downside to this is that it isolates them from their existing friends and family.