[HN Gopher] The highest observatory in the world just opened in ...
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       The highest observatory in the world just opened in Chile
        
       Author : Brajeshwar
       Score  : 39 points
       Date   : 2024-05-03 11:52 UTC (11 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
        
       | dylan604 wrote:
       | "even the researchers working inside will need to take
       | precautions to stay healthy in the face of altitude sickness. The
       | team plans to eventually operate the telescope remotely from a
       | lower base facility to avoid such issues."
       | 
       | I assumed having the humans at lower altitude was pretty much
       | standard for these things. I assume trying to build a structure
       | that could be pressurized for better human comfort just to be
       | closer to the scope would be an unnecessary expense and
       | maintenance issue easily avoided by a lower altitude control
       | offices.
        
         | logtempo wrote:
         | One could bring oxygen up there, with a small respiratory
         | assistance I think it could do the job. But doing it remotely
         | is obviously cheaper anyway, for many reasons.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | There's really no point in a human being there as all of the
           | photons gathered are directed to an electronic sensor. A
           | human does not need to guide the scope any longer either.
           | Really, if the scope is operated by the ESA, the remote
           | location could be in the EU, or if NASA in the US, or for
           | this one it could be in Japan.
           | 
           | You'd only need a small crew of techs that could be available
           | to perform maintenance, but all of the operations could be
           | much closer to home.
        
             | zzbn00 wrote:
             | There is also the problem of thinking and problem solving
             | at altitude -- we are much worse at it at high elevation
             | compared to at normal elevations!
        
         | Vecr wrote:
         | It's below the Armstrong limit, you don't need pressurization.
         | At this altitude occasional oxygen is probably fine.
         | Pressurization is mostly a comfort thing until you get pretty
         | high up.
        
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       (page generated 2024-05-03 23:02 UTC)