A robotic
observatory — PLATO (PLATeau Observatory) — has been completed on one of
Earth's most remote locations — the Antarctic Plateau. With temperatures that
drop to minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit, at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the
automated facility is an 18-day journey from existing research stations.
The
expedition was led by the Polar Research Institute of China; the observatory
will begin sending data back by satellite in a few weeks, when darkness returns
to Antarctica.
The PLATO automated observatory is powered by solar panels and by small diesel
engines during the lightless winter.
PLATO has a
total of seven telescopes; equipment from China, the U.S. and the U.K. was assembled by a team at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
The
Antarctic Plateau is considered one of Earth's prime viewing
locations. The air is extremely dry; it also features relatively low wind
speeds and less atmospheric turbulence. The site should also be ideal for
infrared observations.
The
location of the site also figures prominently in one of the site's main goals;
the continuous observation of an area of the sky over the pole as the Earth
rotates.
Let's hope
that the team from the Polar Research Institute has a good repair plan for when
the robotic observatory needs to be serviced. Dome C in Antarctica is so
remote, and the journey there so difficult, it might as well be on another
planet. Perhaps they should consider having Robonaut,
the dexterous humanoid telepresence robot, onsite for repairs and maintenance.
Science
fiction fans know that we're going to need this kind of automated equipment —
and people to service them. In his 1959 short story The Repairman, Harry Harrison wrote about automated hyperspace beacons placed at ideal locations on
lonely planets.
The first ships to enter hyperspace had no place to go — and
no way to tell if they had even moved. The beacons solved that problem and
opened up the entire universe. They are built on planets and generate tremendous
amounts of power …
For a hyperspace jump, you need at least four beacons for an
accurate fix. For long jumps, navigators use up to seven or eight. So every
beacon is important and every one has to keep operating. That is where I and
the other troubleshooters come in.
(Read more about Harry Harrison's hyperspace beacons)
Via Robotic Observatory Built on Remote Antarctic Summit and
Astronomers reach the top of the Antarctic Plateau.
(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission of Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction
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