Space exploration: giant telescope in Chile to discover life on other planets (video)

Because of the clear sky overhead, the Atacama Desert in Chile is a popular destination for space enthusiasts. And because you can look so well into space here, a top-class flagship telescope is now being created. A consortium of universities and other scientific institutions is currently building the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), which will have a resolution ten times higher than the Hubble space telescope jointly developed by NASA and ESA. Leopoldo Infante, Director of the Las Campanas Observatory: “There are currently three major telescope projects in the world: this one, one being built by the Europeans near Paranal in Chile on a hill called Cerro Armazones, and another , which is to be built in Hawaii at the Mauna Kea Observatory. All three will be the new generation of giant telescopes, the aim of which is to discover life on other planets and to determine the origin of dark energy. ” The physical properties of dark energy can be investigated by large-scale mapping of the structures in the universe, for example by the distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters. The $ 1.8 billion complex, due to start operating later in the decade, will compete with the other two telescope projects in space exploration.