A staff member prepares for a maintenance task of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Maintenance of a gigantic telescope is never easy. Let's take a glimpse of researchers' routine maintenance.
PINGTANG, Aug. 31, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Researchers with the China-based FAST, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, on Friday tested a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the telescope's 4,450-panel reflector. The micro-G mechanism aims to help reduce the maintenance staff's body weight to a value within the reflector panels' range of durability using a helium-filled balloon 7.6 meters in diameter. Located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province, FAST was put into trial operation in September 2016.
A staff member talks with his colleagues in a walkie-talkie as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
A staff member prepares for a maintenance task of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
A staff member completes a maintenance task of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members celebrate as they finish testing a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members move a helium balloon to its targeted position as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
A staff member conducts maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
A staff member conducts maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members move a helium balloon to its targeted position as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Qinbing)
A staff member prepares for a maintenance task of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) with the help of a microgravity mechanism in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members make preparations to test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 28, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members tether a helium balloon to a targeted position as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members tether a helium balloon to a targeted position as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
Staff members move a helium balloon to its targeted position as they test a microgravity mechanism in the maintenance of the reflector panels on the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 29, 2019. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
