With just a few months to go, SA upbeat on SKA results

According to Times Live, Mjwara said billions of rands will flow into South Africa if it and eight African partner countries win the bid to host the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope.

The telescope will consist of about 3000 antennae. Signals from the antennae will be sent through fibre-optic cables to a central computer which will produce a picture. Other African countries involved in the project as partner countries are Namibia, with three antenna stations, Botswana with four and Mozambique, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia and Ghana one each. A site in the Northern Cape's Karoo will be home to the core of the telescope, if the bid is successful.

The telescope will have the capacity to observe the first-formed black holes, stars and galaxies. It will also be on the lookout for signs of life on other planets. Local Square Kilometre Array team leader Bernie Faranoff said the team had met the site advisory committee in the UK in December. "We thought [our presentation] went well but they were not giving anything away. That was just our impression. We hope we're right," he told Times Live. Australia is the other contender for providing a site for the powerful telescope, and the winner is expected to be announced in April.

Read the full article on www.timeslive.co.za.