Radio astronomy

I have learnt the little science I know at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) when I spent 2003-2004 there as their Moore Visiting Professor in the Humanities. Caltech manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the agency responsible for unmanned space flights like the Mars Rovers.

It is also is one of leading science institutions in the world, having produced 25 science laureates (South Africa as a whole has produced 4, to give the figure some perspective). It is on the high end of physics, biology, chemistry, enginee-ring and astronomy.

It is there that I first met the South African astronomer Tony Readhead. Readhead runs an extraordinary observatory in the Andes. He made his expertise available to the South African astronomy community, helping with our bid for the Square Kilometer Array (SQA) for example.

The SQA will be the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. It will consist of thousands of dishes and collecting devices acting as one and covering a square kilometer. The competition is down to Australia and South Africa. The outcome will be announced by 2012.

The SQA combines cutting edge technologies and computing power enabling the detection of faint celestial signals. It will help scientists answer questions about dark matter, the formation of first galaxies, stars and planets. It will be able to trace whether there is life elsewhere in the universe.

The SQA is the world cup of science. Most of the funding – R10 billion is the working figure – will come from the north, but the host countries must of course put something in. Our Department of Science and Technology is fully behind it. We also have a cost advantage and laws to protect the SKA from radio interference.

Our disadvantage is that we have no academic tradition of radio astronomy (optical astronomy yes) at our universities. We are trying to build capacity, but Australia is way ahead of us in this respect. Still, despite the competition with Australia, we collaborate with them when it comes to training.

We are developing small and powerful radio telescope facilities, such as the Karoo Array Telescope or MeerKAT. Australia has its SKA Pathfinder or ASKAP set in their Outback. It is a collaboration that will strengthen the scientific and technical cooperation.

The organization taking the lead on the project is SKA South Africa and its director is Bernie Fanaroff. Fanaroff is a qualified astro-physicist. He was at one time the Director-General of Jay Naidoo’s Reconstruction and Development (RDP) Ministry in Nelson Mandela’s government.

Fanaroff is a capable scientist with the right expertise to run what could be one of the largest science investments ever in South Africa. His leadership is a good example of how to run a large science project.

However, the world of science has great potential for corruption, cronyism, insider trading and unethical conduct. It is self-regulating, governed by some basic legislation. Because it operates under the radar screen and obscured from public view, all the more reason we should look more closely.

For example, the Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor with its very large annual budget is one that requires close scrutiny. It is the job of the science journalist and we have so few of them. As a MP I will pay close attention to science and technology issues.

As a former director of newspaper companies I will be on the media’s case to do our country’s science community greater justice.