FAST, the world's largest radio telescope, is about to go into operation

The world's largest radio telescope, FAST, is about to go into operation, and now all 4450 reflective panels have been installed
.

Figure 1

Figure 2

The reflective surface of FAST can concentrate radio waves for the feed receiver, and its total area is about 250,000 square meters, which is about 30 football fields larger than a standard football
field.
Among its many functions, the most amazing thing is that the super sensitivity can improve the ability of humans to search for alien civilizations to an unprecedented level
.

FAST breaks through the 100-meter limit of radio telescopes and creates a new model
for building giant radio telescopes.
As the world's largest single-aperture telescope, FAST is expected to remain a world-class device for the next 10-20 years
.

This huge reflective surface - the feed receiver - is equivalent to the optic nerve of the telescope, as can be seen from Figure 1, the system controls 6 steel cables, driving the feed capsule to move on the spherical crown surface 140~180 meters above the ground and a diameter of 207 meters, so as to realize astronomical observations
such as tracking and scanning of the radio source.
The collected information is transmitted to the control room via a synchronously moving fiber optic cable hanging on a steel cable, as shown in
Figure 2.

In the construction of the FAST feed support system, there are many technical solutions that are disclosed and used
for the first time.
For example, the performance is far better than the dynamic optical cable required by the national military standard, which is the first in the world; The curtain-type cable entry mechanism ensures the ultra-high transmission requirements
of FAST observation signals.

It is reported that the FAST telescope will be fully completed on the 9th of this month, opening an in-depth exploration journey of the origin and evolution of the universe, the structure of matter and physical laws in extreme states, patrolling neutral hydrogen in the universe and observing pulsars
.

The national "major scientific project" - FAST project was officially approved by the National Development and Reform Commission on July 10, 2007, and undertaken by the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is currently the world's largest radio telescope construction project
.
In 2009, FiberHome participated in the research and development of moving optical cables suitable for the project, according to estimates, in the 5 years of use, the mechanical properties of optical cables such as repeated bending, winding and twisting reached more than 66,000 times, in addition, the outer sheath of the optical cable must also withstand the test
of harsh natural environments such as wind, sun and rain.

Moving optical cable is one of the key technologies that is the most technically difficult but must be overcome in the
feed support feeder cabin solution.
Since undertaking this project, FiberHome has continuously optimized the optical cable structure according to the application scenarios of optical cables, and finally successfully designed and completed the finalization
of the optical cable structure.
The test shows that the optical cable has mechanical properties such as repeated bending, winding and twisting of 100,000 times, and has excellent optical transmission performance, which fully meets the requirements of the moving optical cable of
the FAST project.

In June 2013, the FAST optical cable simulation test passed the acceptance of the project expert group at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications under the organization of the National Astronomical Observatory
.

In April 2015, Pan Gaofeng, deputy chief engineer of the FAST project feed support system of the National Astronomical Observatory, demonstrated the magnificent FAST telescope and high-end feed technology at the global new product launch conference of FiberHome China Fiber and Cable, which opened the eyes of all participants
.
In January 2016, Fiberhome joined hands with the National Observatory and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications to complete the formulation
of the enterprise standard of "moving optical cable".