Exclusive: China expands worldwide using of its Eye of Heaven: FAST chief scientist

[superadmin]

China is sharing its Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) - Eye of Heaven - with the world by allocating 10 percent of its observation hours for projects run by foreign astronomers, and the percentage will definitely increase in the coming years, said FAST chief scientist.

Speaking to the Global Times during an exclusive interview, Li Di, the chief scientist of Both FAST and the radio division of China's National Astronomical Observatories of the China Academy of Sciences (CAS), revealed that astronomers from 15 countries, with scientists from the US, Europe and Australia topping the list, are using China's state-of-the-art telescope and exploring the boundaries of mankind's space knowledge. 

On March 31, 2021, the FAST officially opened to the world and started to collect observation applications from astronomers from around the world. The FAST received 7,216 hours of observation applications submitted by scientists from various countries and finally granted approval to 27 international projects. These projects started to use the FAST for scientific observations in August 2021.


- More -