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Affixing the pedestal of the first SKA-Mid dish onto its foundation.
SKA-Mid construction highlights BY TRACY CHEETHAM, SKA-MID SITE CONSTRUCTION DIRECTOR
21st century radio astronomy on the move! November 2023 saw the beginning of the long-awaited groot trek (Afrikaans for great trek) across the seas for the first SKA-Mid dish destined for site in South Africa. During its more than 16,000-km journey from the CETC54 factory in China to the port of Cape Town, technology enabled the excited awaiting South African team – and the wider Observatory! – to follow online the shipment in real time, and that of a ship carrying components for the second dish, which followed shortly after. From the port, the dishes made their way by road to their final home in the Karoo in early February. There were goosebump moments for the teams on the SKA-Mid site when the trucks started arriving with the new equipment and the hardware was offloaded in readiness for the assembly of the dishes to commence. The two SKA-Mid dishes now on site will form part of the first milestone for SKA-Mid construction, known as Array Assembly 0.5 (AA0.5) due for completion in the first quarter of 2025. AA0.5 will comprise four dishes which will be tested and verified before full-scale production of the dishes proceeds.
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The assembly of the first dish commenced with the dish pedestal being raised onto its antenna foundation. The CETC54 team then proceeded with the assembly of the main dish reflector consisting of the main reflector support, counterweight, and reflector panels, before the “big lift” onto the pedestal can take place in the next few weeks. The first feed indexer has also arrived on site after being shipped from Italy, and is ready for installation on the first dish once the big lift has taken place.
Construction of the contractor camp SKA-Mid infrastructure contractor Power Adenco Joint Venture took occupation of the contractor camp at the end of January 2024. Equipment and electronic devices deployed at the camp have been certified, and radio frequency interference (RFI) permits were issued by the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) to ensure these devices do not cause radio interference with the MeerKAT radio telescope, approximately 25 km away from the camp.
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