Hot News: Largest Radio Telescope

World's Largest Radio Telescope

- China Relocate People -

BEIJING: The evacuation of facilitated by a proposal in March 2015 by several members of the Guizhou provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Xinhua news agency reported.

Before its completion in September, China's Guizhou province is expected to evacuate over 9,000 residents for the protection of the world's largest radio telescope, authorities said on Tuesday.

Upon completion, the telescope will be the world's largest of its kind, overtaking Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory, which is 300 metres in diameter. Construction of the FAST began in March 2011 with an investment of 1.2 billion yuan.

The proposal asked the government to relocate residents within 5 km of the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, to create a sound electromagnetic wave transmited out to the space environment.

The Guizhou provincial government is expected to resettle 9,110 residents in Pingtang county and Luodian County in four settlements by the end of September.

Each of the involved residents will get 12,000 yuan ($1,830) subsidy from the provincial reservoir and eco-migration bureau, and each involved ethnic minority household with housing difficulties will get 10,000 yuan subsidy from the provincial ethnic and religious committee.

China space telescope to displace humans in search for aliens

BEIJING: Due to this five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) start operation this year, China will move nearly 10,000 people to make way for the world's largest radio telescope which promises to help humanity search for alien life, state media reported today.

Provincial officials have vowed to relocate 9,110 residents living within five kilometres of the listening device nestled between hills in the southwestern province of Guizhou by this September, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Residents will receive $1,800 in subsidies for their troubles, with some getting extra support for housing, it said.

FAST, built at a cost of 1.2 billion yuan, will dwarf the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico as the world's largest radio telescope, which is some 300 metres in diameter. The telescope will "create a sound electromagnetic wave environment", it cited a top regional official named Li Yuecheng as saying.

Xinhua earlier cited Wu Xiangping, director-general of the Chinese Astronomical Society, as saying that the telescope's high level of sensitivity "will help us to search for intelligent life outside of the galaxy".

As well as upping investment in astronomy, Beijing is accelerating its multi-billion-dollar space exploration programme, with plans for a permanent orbiting station by 2020 and eventually a manned mission to the moon.

In the past China has relocated hundreds of thousands of people to make way for large infrastructure projects such as dams and canals. Many complain of poor compensation.

The area surrounding the telescope is remote and relatively poor. Xinhua earlier said it was chosen because there are no major towns nearby.