FAST: World/’s largest radio telescope launches in ChinaA giant radio-telescope is ready to scan the heavens from a mountainous province in southwestern China. Its wavelength will help scientists in the exploration of outer space and distant stars.
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Shortly after noon, in a karst valley in Pingtang County, hundreds of astronomers and astronomy enthusiasts witnessed the official launch of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope’s (FAST) mission to explore space and hunt for extraterrestrial life.
Beijing has poured billions into such ambitious scientific projects as well as its military-backed space programme, including the launch of its second space station earlier this month.
The feasibility study for the telescope was carried out over 14 years and construction took more than five years to complete.
World´s largest radio telescope starts operating was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on September 25, 2016 and was last updated on September 25, 2016.
Researchers at the National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that FAST was so sensitive at detecting signals from space that it offered far better potential for scientist to detect signs of life on other planets or galaxies.
To ensure the telescope’s performance, more than 8,000 locals are being resettled from their homes to make way for the project, which requires radio silence within a 5-kilometer radius.
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CCTV reported that during a recent test, the telescope received radio signals from a pulsar that was 1,351 light-years from Earth. The radio telescope will be the global leader for the next 10 to 20 years, he said. In August, the country launched the first quantum satellite experts said would advance efforts to develop the ability to send communications that can’t be penetrated by hackers.
