Following a
recent demonstration of a 10-dish element of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA),
the United States Navy has signed off on a $1.5 million agreement to use the
array along with another 10-dish installation to be developed in the near
future.
The ATA is
a general-purpose radio telescope designed to provide new measurements and
insights into the density of the very early universe, the formation of stars as
well as other applications. The observatory is located the Hat Creek Radio
Observatory in the mountains northeast of San Francisco. Investor and
philanthropist Paul G. Allen has committed $13.5 million to the construction of
the first and second phases of the array.
When
complete, the ATA will consist of 350 6.1-meter dishes. Twenty dishes are currently
online at the observatory with a 42-dish array total to be completed near the
end of the year. Though the project is slightly behind schedule due to the
recent heavy northern California winter and the usual challenges of engineering
a radical new technology, one of the project's leaders is particularly pleased
by recent progress.
"Things are
now moving fairly quickly," said Dr. Jack Welch of U.C. Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory. Welch, who in great part conceived the ATA project and is the observatory's former director, added that the challenge of building a completely new type of radio telescope array has been further energized by the USNO involvement.
Representatives
of the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) visited the array in mid-July
when the instruments were undergoing initial testing and observations. They
were interested in the observatory's ability to monitor the ever-increasing
amount of space debris found in Earth orbit.
"They are
interested in using the dishes for possible applications for what is known as
'space situational awareness' that is an important arena for the Department of
Defense (DoD)," Welch told SPACE.com.
According
to Welch, the ATA is the ideal technology to help get a handle on this since
the nation's investment in communications, GPS, weather and of course, defense
constellations of satellites not to mention the dangers posed to the
International Space Station, Shuttle and future human spaceflight.
One of the
strength's of the ATA's capabilities is its unique ability to filter through
the signatures of orbiting objects while searching the skies for
extraterrestrial signals and astrophysical phenomena.
"For
example, if a laptop computer was started up in geosynchronous orbit, the ATA
could detect it," Welch said. "It can also do radar studies to locate and
detect echoes from a wide variety of things such as orbiting satellites."
While the
Navy's interest in the project and its investment gives the project a must
needed boost, astronomy and SETI research remain the telescope's primary
purpose. "Our overall goal is not to do this but rather as a demonstration of
technology that the Department of Defense can take and use for its own
scientific research purposes," Welch said.
The U.S.
Navy has a long history of doing scientific research dating back to the
establishment of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. where astronomer Asaph Hall first discovered Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars in
1877.
Current
projects include a wide variety of research projects in optical and radio
astronomy. When asked about the Navy's involvement in the ATA project, USNO
Scientific Director, Dr. Ken Johnston said that they were pleased to be a part
of the ATA's work.
"The United
States Navy is always interested in basic research that may lead to technology
applications for present and future DoD needs," Johnston said.
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