New telescope array in Chile is financed entirely by private funds
One of Mothra’s 30 mounts. Click for original.
Capitalism in space: A new ground-based telescope array in Chile, dubbed Mothra, is being built using only private financing, and is being designed to map the faint hydrogen hidden between the galaxies and thus produce a more precise map of the universe.
MOTHRA is being built at Obstech / El Sauce Observatory in Chile. The telescope’s construction started in the spring of 2025 and it is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2026. By fusing its many images together digitally, the array of [30 mounts totaling] 1,140 telephoto lenses will be the equivalent of a single 4.7-meter diameter lens. It will be the world’s largest all-lens telescope, with capabilities that are unmatched by any other telescope on Earth or in space.
The funding comes mostly from a donation by British billionaire Alex Gerko, who has apparently donated millions to numerous similar research projects.
This is the right future for science research, and was the way things were done in the U.S. until World War II. Stop depending on the government, which often has political concerns that warp research and always does things inefficiently. Get the private sector, especially rich individuals, to back projects, because they will require the work to be done well, and will care personally about its success.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
One of Mothra’s 30 mounts. Click for original.
Capitalism in space: A new ground-based telescope array in Chile, dubbed Mothra, is being built using only private financing, and is being designed to map the faint hydrogen hidden between the galaxies and thus produce a more precise map of the universe.
MOTHRA is being built at Obstech / El Sauce Observatory in Chile. The telescope’s construction started in the spring of 2025 and it is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2026. By fusing its many images together digitally, the array of [30 mounts totaling] 1,140 telephoto lenses will be the equivalent of a single 4.7-meter diameter lens. It will be the world’s largest all-lens telescope, with capabilities that are unmatched by any other telescope on Earth or in space.
The funding comes mostly from a donation by British billionaire Alex Gerko, who has apparently donated millions to numerous similar research projects.
This is the right future for science research, and was the way things were done in the U.S. until World War II. Stop depending on the government, which often has political concerns that warp research and always does things inefficiently. Get the private sector, especially rich individuals, to back projects, because they will require the work to be done well, and will care personally about its success.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Can Godzilla be far behind?