2 minute read
Construction commencement ceremonies
from Contact 12
As SKA milestones go, they don’t come much bigger than the start of construction at the telescope sites; the moment we can say to the world: now it begins. That moment arrived on 5 December 2022. Months of planning involving a large number of people separated by continents, oceans and time zones culminated in consecutive SKAO Construction Commencement Ceremonies (known as C3 for short) at the telescope sites in Australia and South Africa.
The effort behind these events – the biggest in the history of the SKA project – was led by the SKAO’s Communications team, with significant support from across departments as well as from partners at CSIRO, SARAO, and beyond. In the following articles (check below this article for more), we hear from two members of Team SKA who were in the thick of the action at each site, SKA-Low Communications Manager Liz Williams, and SKAO Media Manager Anim van Wyk. Their stories give an insight into the hard work, excitement, and pressure surrounding preparations for the ceremonies, and a taste of how special it was to be part of this moment in SKA history.
Still image from 5 December 2022, on-site celebration of commencement of construction of the SKAO's SKA-Low telescope at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Wajarri cultural dance performed by Godfrey Simpson, Geoffrey Mongoo and Gerard Boddington.
Credit: SKAO
The commencement of construction ceremony in South Africa
Credit: SARAO
Still image from 5 December 2022, on-site celebration of commencement of construction of the SKAO's SKA-Low telescope at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, the CSIRO Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory. Australian Minister for Industry and Science the Hon Ed Husic speaks at the commencement of construction ceremony.
Credit: SKAO
The commencement of construction ceremony in South Africa
Credit: SARAO
