The Square Kilometre Array telescope, one of the greatest scientific endeavours of the 21st century, might find its future in the lands of Southern Africa.

In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei first peering through a telescope, 2009 has been declared the International Year of Astronomy. The celebration is a global initiative, calling for cooperation across geographic, cultural and age boundaries in searching for that which ultimately binds us all – our cosmic origin. Global events such as the launch of the Kepler Mission (in search for Earth version 2.0), and the Large Hadron Collider (which is trying to recreate the condition of the Big Bang) show how the steps made by mankind are steadfastly turning into outright gymnastics. South Africa is on its way to the Olympics.

South Africa is currently in a bid against Australia to be chosen as the site for the Square Kilometre Array Telescope (SKA). Do not let the fact that the name emanates as much excitement as a cement brick fool you. The SKA telescope would consist of more than a thousand satellite dishes, constructed in an outwardly spiralling structure stretching over 3000 kilometres Altogether, it will comprise a disc surface area the size of 200 football fields.

The bid is between South Africa and Australia for a number of reasons, and the arch-rivals are neck and neck in yet another competition (I am suddenly captured by an image of seven Springbok astrophysicists chugging Castle Lager bawling profanities at the bloody Sons-of-Dingos). Array or radio telescopes differ from optical telescopes – the normal “peering through an eyepiece” variety descended from Galileo’s invention - in that they aim to pick up low-frequency radio waves from the edges of the universe. Such a telescope is extremely sensitive, and one as important as SKA must be situated in the most particular of environments. Anyone with a car radio and distaste for searching through radio-channels knows how crowded the Cape Town radio frequencies already are. This is because the radio-signals from KFM, 5-FM and UCT radio operate within a certain radio wavelength, and can be picked up only at certain frequencies. The relevant radio waves from distant galaxies work in the same way. On Earth, and especially the Northern Hemisphere, the frequencies at which these operate are already overcrowded with sitcoms, NFL reruns and Y’ello Summers. Thus, if the astronomers at SKA do not want to be bothered by reruns of Britain’s Got Talent, the telescope has to be built somewhere as free as possible from radio interference. Having SKA built in the Southern Hemisphere also means an entire new part of the sky can be observed, as virtually all existing radio telescopes already reside in the Northern Hemisphere. The Karoo Desert in South Africa, and the Outback in Australia, are thus perfect locations.

South Africa already holds considerable advantages over Australia. The construction of a miniature version of the SKA is already under way. The Karoo Array Telescope, or meerKAT, is a R20 million project, will already be the most powerful of its kind in the world. What makes meerKAT an integral part of the bid for the SKA (on top of upping South Africa’s astro-cred), is that it is being built with groundbreaking technology developed in South Africa. While most telescopes are built with the usual steel, nuts and bolts, South Africa’s scientists have developed a way of building dishes with composite materials which will greatly reduce the costs of building SKA.

Another advantage is the fact that the government in South Africa is visibly behind the project. Australia’s government has not moved beyond voicing support for the project, while the ANC has already passed legislation to limit development in the proposed SKA area. The Astronomy Geographical Advantage bill stipulates rules for keeping the potential building site for SKA noise free. The bill includes such measures as limiting the number of cellphone towers that may be built, and limiting the use of television antennaes. This, of course, may irk the Karoo community, but the fact is that television reception is shoddy in the Karoo, and part of the plan to coalesce the farmers in the area to support the project will be to provide them with satellite television. The prospect of being able to trade their snowy 7de Laan in for eight channels of Supersport should provoke little resistance from the local community.

The government knows that a successful bid will greatly increase South Africa’s stance in the international community. Furthermore, the South African government is trying to move the country from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, and a project such as SKA is a perfect opportunity to realise this goal. The Ministry of Science and Technology believes that SKA is where the next Nobel Prize will come from.

As the government tries to convince the international science community that we are fit for a project of such magnitude and importance, the South African public gains by their efforts. Around 80 bursaries have been awarded to students tied to the SKA project, ranging from degrees in astronomy to engineering and physics. But not only University students will gain from the project. As with any large-scale construction project (and this truly is of the biggest scale possible), the construction of the SKA will lead to thousands of jobs being created, and a general improvement in infrastructure. According to Dr. Adrian Tiplady, one of the head scientists of the project, “up to R1,5 billion can be expected to be spent on infrastructure development alone [...] One can expect a total return of between 2 and 20 times the capital cost of the SKA in terms of socio-economic benefits.”

The construction of SKA will also require high-speed internet cables being built across southern Africa. This counts in South Africa’s favour as a vested interested for funding countries - wiring southern Africa up to the global internet community would be highly advantageous to global markets and services.

Thus the advantages of South Africa to host SKA, the endeavours of the government and the benefits gained by the public go hand in hand, forming a ring-around-a-radio-telescope dance. There are still obstacles to be addressed, especially the question of power-supply. It is up to the South African government, and a show of support from the public, to prove their commitment to the project, and to prevent it all from failing. With the pun fully intended, the project is of astronomical importance to South Africa, South Africans, and the global science community – a project that would make Galileo grin in his grave.

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Louis Pienaar is in second-year, majoring in English Literature, Philosophy & History. He is a subcom member at the Cape Town Globalist.