Full Resolution Next stop down the road, we saw the characteristic tall trees and a long driveway, and pulled up. He was again super friendly, and invited us to set up shop anywhere on his hundreds of hectares. We were lucky to have Nic along to talk with him -- he had a few words of English but Afrikaans is dominant out here.
"But you folks -- you're with NASA? Nothing to do with the SKA, you promise?"
I didn't expect it, but I think this backlash against the SKA is because of the radio-quiet zone. The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) is a huge $3B radio telescope array that is being set up centered on Carnarvon, not far from here. By 2025, there will be 5000+ radio dishes. And to keep the skies radio-quiet, the federal government has mandated a huge radio-quiet zone, where cell phone towers, microwave ovens, walkie-talkies, etc. are all removed.
