Sky still limit for SKA, but it’s gloomy on the ground
Despite Covid-19, scientists are still confident SA will host the world’s largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
But residents of the small Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, who hoped for a tourism boom linked to the SKA, have had their dreams deferred.
Guest houses are empty, restaurants are barely clinging to life and workers who supply services to hospitality establishments are surviving on charity which is slowly drying up.
Resident Gerrit Louw, who markets the town to tourists, said: “Many guest houses were set up in Carnarvon for the SKA. Now the open days are cancelled and people are affected. They are getting no business at all.”
Three years ago, the dirt road that leads to the town was tarred as visitor numbers rocketed beyond the spring influx of people admiring the Namaqualand wild flowers.
This year, the flowers may be the town’s only consolation, said Louw, because “there has been a lot of rain and they should be beautiful”.
Meanwhile, Louw’s main concern is “all the hungry people”. For several years before the SKA was confirmed he used mainly corporate donations to assist the impoverished.
“Those funds are running out and the companies have lost enthusiasm. We have small donations coming in, so we are trying to make do.
“We used to distribute hundreds of food parcels a month, but now we are only managing around 60.”
For scientists, on the other hand, the ability to work remotely has kept the SKA project buoyant.
Prof Philip Diamond, the project’s director-general, said: “Even with the terrible toll of Covid-19 around the world, countries have shown remarkable commitment to the SKA and continue to push forward. It is testimony to the strength of our global collaboration and the impact the project will have.”
It is hoped the SKA will answer long-standing questions about the universe, including how galaxies form and evolve, the fundamentals of physics in extreme environments and the origins of life.
The parallels with that and the current pandemic are not lost on the scientists. “This dilemma of the hidden, undetected infections is similar to what cosmology went through over the past 40 years,” said Bruce Bassett, head of data science at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory.
“We knew that most of the mass in the universe was dark, invisible except through the force of gravity. It was only recently that we found ways to measure the true amount of dark matter. We need to find a quicker solution here.”
Observatory spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said most staff were continuing to work remotely and contracts for the MeerKAT project, the SKA’s precursor, were “on track and will proceed as planned”.
Planned activities would be reassessed in January based on budget allocations, but the pandemic had not changed the SKA time frames.