Upon commencing operations in late September, the 1.5 billion yuan (US$ 180 million) FAST telescope will become the most powerful single-dish radio detector in the world.

The concept for the vast telescope was first proposed in 1994, but the logistical nightmare of finding an appropriate site for the enormous dish prevented the Chinese government from giving a final go-ahead on the ambitious project until relatively recently, in 2007.

Dawodang, Kedu Town was eventually selected as the site of the radio telescope in no small part thanks to the presence of the surrounding mountain formation, which will act to sheild FAST's delicate instrumentation from local radio disturbances.

Less than 6 years after the official start of the construction project, the last of 4,450 panels has been installed atop an impressive cable-net frame. When manipulated by actuators located at the base of the structure, the swarm of panels combine to form a single parabolic radio reflecting dish with a surface area the equivalent of 30 soccer fields.