The SKA Journey

April 28, 2010, 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM

EDT (-4 GMT)

Location: Salon B

Chris Hancock , AARNet

Session Abstract Australia, with a core site in inland Western Australia, is one of two regions shortlisted to site the SKA; southern Africa being the other. The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is a new radio telescope, to be designed and built by CSIRO, in collaboration with leading overseas astronomers and engineers that will provide an important test-bed for SKA technology, as well as being a world-leading telescope in its own right. The ASKAP radio telescope project requires high-capacity optical-fibre transmission from the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in the mid-west of WA to a site in Geraldton. As the MRO is Australia’s candidate site for the SKA, the plan is to have sufficient fibre installed to meet the estimated needs of the SKA. AARNet has been engaged to conduct a design study to define technical options for the project, make cost-benefit analyses for different options, design the fibre route, produce a detailed costing of the entire project, and analyse project risks. In the session AARNet CEO Chris Hancock will lead delegates through the design, implementation and challenges of the most significant infrastructure project of the coming decades.

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