CARNARVON: With R3 billion already invested in the groundbreaking MeerKAT radio telescope, the project has surpassed early expectations, with 16 completed dishes commissioned at the weekend by Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor.
The advanced radio telescope has been hailed as a breakthrough in big science projects in the southern hemisphere and is scheduled to be completed, with a total of 64 dishes, next year.
MeerKAT is the precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope which once completed will be the world’s most powerful radio telescope.
SKA will be built in two phases – SKA1 and SKA2 – starting in 2018. SKA1 will include two components – SKA1 MID (to be built in South Africa) and SKA1 LOW (to be built in Australia); they will observe the universe at different radio frequencies.
SKA will be able to detect radio waves from objects millions, or even billions, of light years away.
On a tour of the site at the weekend, the giant 42 ton satellite dishes could be seen towering over an expanse of dry Northern Cape landscape.
The dishes are spread over an area with a diameter of 8km located 90km north-west of Carnarvon, and are so sensitive that all cellphones have to be turned off as you leave the town.
Roads to the satellites undergo extensive upgrades as heavy trucks bring separate parts from Joburg and the West Coast to be assembled at the site.
Pandor said big science can bring opportunity to the African continent.
“MeerKAT was designed to contribute significantly to our understanding of cosmology, the study of the structure and evolution of the entire universe in its larger scale.
“In addition, it can help us increase our understanding of the formation and evolution of individual galaxies.
“Because of the ingenuity and hard work of the South African engineers, and related teams of scientists, MeerKAT is turning out to be much better than originally designed.
“This is astounding, because we were only supposed to reach (these) goals when we were halfway – with 32 dishes in place.”
Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said the economy would not only be driven by investing in short-term projects, but by advanced science and innovation.
“What the nuclear and space programmes did for the US and Russian economies shows how important mega-science is in a nation’s economic development.” More than 400 people have been employed through initial infrastructure work, fibre optics and data-gathering infrastructure have been installed to analyse the large quantities of data, and more than 31km of farm roads built to make SKA possible.
Site operations and infrastructure manager Tracy Cheetham, who spoke on behalf of SKA associate director Justin Jonas, said the MeerKAT science programme was devised with the assistance of the best scientists from around the world.
Cheetham said these scientists were inspired by the ambition of the South Africans to embark on the project.
“Being the first of its kind, MeerKAT has stretched the capabilities of all involved in its conception and construction. MeerKAT and SKA are the ultimate big data machines, requiring high-performance computers, ultrahigh-speed digital processing systems, and ultra-broadband communications systems.”