Reaching for the Stars

  After 14 years of preparation and two years of land surveys and relocation of residents, workers in Pingtan County in southwest China's Guizhou Province have started preparing the site for a 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST). It will be the world's largest, the size of 30 soccer fields. The main spherical reflector will be made up of 4,600 panels, and the construction will be complete in 2016. The sparsely populated, underdeveloped region will provide the quiet environment the telescope needs to capture electromagnetic waves. The facility, costing more than RMB 667 million, will improve China's astronomical observation capability and help Chinese and international astronomers discover some of the secrets of the universe.