World's largest radio telescope completes installation

PINGTANG, July 3, 2016 -- The aerial photo taken on July 3, 2016 shows the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in Pingtang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province. Installation was completed on the world's largest radio telescope on Sunday morning as the last of 4,450 panels was fitted into the center of the big dish. Scientists will then begin debugging and trial observation of the FAST. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)

GUIYANG, July 3 -- The world's largest-ever radio telescope completed installation as the last piece of 4,450 panels was fitted in the center of the big dish on Sunday morning, a landmark step for its planned operation in September.

The hoisting of the last triangular-shaped panel to the reflector, as large as 30 football pitches, began at 10:47 a.m. and lasted about an hour.

About 300 people, including constructors, experts, science fiction enthusiasts and reporters, witnessed the installation in a karst valley in Pingtang County of the southwestern province of Guizhou.