South Africa is ready to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the heart of the Northern Cape Province's desert landscape of the Karoo, and has already gone a long way towards the project by developing the MeerKAT system, the largest telescope yet.
Australia is also edging ahead to secure the bid, which is expected to be finalised in the first half of this year by a consortium of the major international science funding agencies, in consultation with the SKA Science and Engineering Committee (SSEC).If successful, the African bid will also involve several other countries and, it is hoped, will put the continent at the forefront of research in this scientific field. Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, has therefore pumped millions of rands into developing young scientists who can work not just on the SKA project, but also in astronomy as a whole, helping to make South Africa a scientific world leader.
"We are proud that the SKA South Africa is well positioned to play a pathfinder role for a new generation of global-science partnerships," Pandor said during a recent graduation ceremony for astronomy students as she also lauded the progress being made with MeerKAT, South Africa's SKA precursor radio telescope. According to The South African Online, there are also huge benefits for the economy of the country that wins the SKA bid, as the construction of the telescope is expected to cost about 1.5 billion Euros, with annual maintenance spending of up to 50 million Euros. Although there was no official comment on rumours that South Africa and Australia could co-host the SKA, unofficially leaders did not see a problem with this from a technological point of view, but expressed concerns about legal and logistical issues.
Read the full article on www.thesouthafrican.com.
