SKAO HQ welcomes back visitors

Back in late 2018, the first event to be held in the newly-built SKAO Headquarter’s 160-seat Council Chamber was a workshop on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or SETI.

It is therefore fitting that three years later, as the SKAO HQ reopens for business and starts to welcome visitors back in under strict COVID-19 safety protocols, we welcomed representatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation back. They came to discuss their latest SETI research and possible future collaborations with the SKAO and give an update to staff from our iconic Council Chamber.

Backed by billionaire investor and philanthropist Yuri Milner and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Breakthrough Initiatives are a suite of space science programmes investigating fundamental questions about life in the Universe. Andrew Siemion, principal investigator for Breakthrough Listen, and Jamie Drew, chief of staff, Breakthrough Initiatives, shared a brief history of the Foundation and gave SKAO staff an overview of current Initiatives, including Breakthrough Listen’s techno signature research programme.

Breakthrough Listen has progressed in leaps and bounds since its high-profile launch in early 2015. The programme relies on several radio telescopes and SKA pathfinder facilities for data, including CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope and SARAO’s MeerKAT telescope.

by Mathieu Isidro (SKAO)