SPACE is not quite the final frontier for astronomers from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation at Jodrell Bank, who are set to boldly go where many men and women have been before.
The stargazers are taking on the challenging mission of the Great Manchester Run on Sunday, May 22.
The team includes Sarah-Jane Pritchard, from Lostock Gralam, executive officer for the SKA, which will delve deep into the early history of the universe.
Its global headquarters are in the shadow of the Jodrell Bank Observatory - the perfect location for Sarah-Jane’s training runs during her lunch hour. It will be the first time she has taken part in the 10k event, now in its 14th year and set to attract up to 40,000 runners.
Sarah-Jane said: “I’ve done a couple of runs before but never as far as 10k. This is going to be a challenge, but I'm told there's a great atmosphere at the Great Manchester Run and it’s a wonderful occasion.
“I’m enjoying my training runs in the countryside around Jodrell Bank and working on such an exciting project as the SKA.” Rather than employing one enormous dish, the SKA will draw on more than 200 smaller dishes and 130,000 antennae spread across South Africa and Australia to create a collecting area of over one square kilometre. Construction is due to begin in 2018.
Joe Diamond, SKA outreach and events assistant, said: “The SKA project is a great international team effort, and some of our staff suggested we enter a team in the Great Manchester Run as a way of relaxing away from the work environment.
“Our runners include scientists, engineers and administrative staff who have come from all over the world, including places such as Australia, South Africa and across Europe, to work on the SKA.
“Staff often go on training runs in the quiet countryside during their lunch breaks, and another big advantage to our location is that we’re so near to Manchester where we work closely with the University of Manchester.”
To enter the Great Manchester Run on Sunday, May 22 please visit www.greatrun.org/Manchester.
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