New Minister visits the MRO
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23 January 2012
Senator Chris Evans, the new Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, visited the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) on Thursday 19 January 2012 to see for himself the progress that is being made on the construction of CSIRO's Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope. The MRO is also the candidate core site in Australia and New Zealand's bid for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a future international radio telescope that will be the world's largest and most sensitive.
On his visit Senator Evans was shown:
- some of the 36 antennas that will make up ASKAP
- a revolutionary phased array feed (PAF, or 'radio camera') installed on an ASKAP antenna
- the building that will house ASKAP's complex computing systems, and
- the SKA-ready broadband infrastructure that has been laid at the site.
CSIRO's ASKAP Director, Ant Schinckel, who led the tour of the MRO site, says, "Senator Evans showed considerable interest in the cutting-edge technical design that has gone into the project, the potential for technology spin-offs, and the amazing science that will be possible once ASKAP is complete."
As well as being a world-leading telescope in its own right, ASKAP is an important testbed for the SKA. Key results from the development of ASKAP technologies are contributing to the international SKA design and development effort.
Australia and New Zealand, and a consortium of nine African countries led by South Africa, have been shortlisted as possible sites for the location of the SKA. A decision on the SKA site is expected in early 2012.
Back to Latest ASKAP News page.