Parkes Telescope: remote and unattended operation begins

At 5:30 this morning the first remote and unattended observation with the Parkes telescope began with project P812; Ettore Carretti is the observer from his home near Parkes. The telescope is operating in the care of the new Telescope Protection System (TPS) that has been developed over the past 18 months, and has now reached a level of reliability that allows operation with no person in the Control Tower.

From today, observers may conduct their observations from the Science Operations Centre in Marsfield, or once experienced, from their home institution. From 15 September, all observations (with minor exceptions) will be conducted remotely.

Added by David McConnell on 2013-07-16