> Other possible design - Kilometre square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope (KARST)

A Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is proposed to be built in the unique karst area in Guizhou Province, in southwest China, and will act, in a sense, as a prototype for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

It will be over twice as large as the Arecibo radio telescope coupled with much wider sky coverage. Technically, FAST is not simply a copy of the existing Arecibo telescope but has a number of innovations.

Firstly, the proposed main spherical reflector, will conform to a paraboloid of revolution in real time through actuated active control, and thus enables the realization of both wide bandwidth and full polarization capability while using a standard feed design.

Secondly, a feed support system, which integrates optical, mechanical and electronic technologies, will effectively reduce the cost of the support structure and control system. Pre-research on FAST has been a key project in the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 1999, and great progress has been achieved.

Since early 2005, FAST project team began to construct the FAST demonstrator in Miyun observatory, i.e., Miyun FAST scaled model, hereafter MyFAST.

More about this design :
Document written for general public (PDF)
Scientific document (PDF)
Design concept white papers 2003 2002
Demonstrator white paper 2004
On the web: Chinese Large Radio Telescope

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