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  4. Giant Magellan Telescope

The Giant Magellan Telescope, is being constructed in Chile's Atacama Desert to revolutionize our understanding of the universe. With an unprecedented 24.5 metre optical surface, one of the largest optical surfaces in the world, and groundbreaking technology, it will explore distant galaxies, exoplanets, and the origins of stars with ten times the resolution of Hubble. The project demands immense precision and innovation, from overcoming seismic challenges to using advanced tools like drones, BIM models and Virtual Reality.

On a clear night, the sky becomes a window to the universe, revealing countless stars, swirling galaxies, and the faint glow of distant nebulae. These celestial wonders have inspired Rebecca Bernstein, Chief Scientist for the Giant Magellan Telescope, since she was a little girl and her view of the universe is about to expanded in a way she never thought possible - until now.

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s unprecedented combination of light-gathering power, efficiency and image resolution will enable us to make new discoveries across all fields of astronomy, particularly fields that require the highest spatial and spectral resolutions, like the search for habitable planets.

Location

  • Atacama Desert, Chile

Project Status

  • Start of operations late 2020s
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Uniting global minds

The Giant Magellan Telescope is being developed by a consortium of universities and institutions from the US, South Korea, Brazil and Australia at the Las Campanas astronomical observatory. “Working on this global, collaborative project is quite simply a unique experience,” says Andres Navarro, WSP Project Manager for the billion-dollar endeavor. “We were chosen to be part of an initiative that will mark a generation of engineers, astronomers and other scientists.”

Our team also spans the globe, based in California, Denver and Santiago as well as the Chilean construction site itself. We are responsible for many roles including construction management, technical inspection, engineering and constructability reviews, and health, safety and environment support services.

One of the largest telescopes ever engineered

When operational in the late 2020s, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be one of the largest ever engineered. Its seven 8.4 metre mirrors will form a single optical surface 24.5 metre in diameter, each one polished to within a wavelength of light — approximately one-millionth of an inch. With a total collecting area of 368m2, it will be able to gather faint light from the farthest reaches of the known universe.

Remarkably, the telescope will contribute to Chile housing 70% of the world’s astronomical capacity, underscoring the unparalleled importance of Chilean skies in advancing global astronomical research.

Velko Zuvic, our Engineering Chief Officer in WSP Chile says, “The Giant Magellan Telescope promises revolutionise astronomy. It will use cutting-edge technology to extend our exploration of the universe beyond what we can currently see, allowing us to discover new life and answer questions that may change our current view of the universe.”

The telescope will be housed in a rotating steel building 60 metre in diameter and 65 metre high, weighing in at about 4,200 tonnes. The building operates like a stage for the giant mirrors, capable of disappearing during nightly observations and rotating 360 degrees in nearly three minutes.

“This transforms it into a mobile mechanism requiring a very high level of precision in its manufacturing and assembly, which means the construction process is extremely demanding,” says Navarro. “The quality requirements for this project are one-of-a-kind.”

A location as unique as its construction

Where’s the ideal place to build a telescope? The Atacama Desert, 630km north of Santiago, is one of the highest and driest locations on Earth, making it an ideal astronomical site. The Giant Magellan Telescope is being constructed on Las Campanas Peak, which has an altitude of over 2,550 metres, and offers clear viewing conditions through the Earth’s atmosphere for more than 300 nights a year.

However, Chile is also one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. So the telescope pier required a seismic isolation system, and particular attention had to be paid to the specification of the concrete. Flexibility in construction will be vital especially since the technology for the telescope is still under development.

The telescope’s remote desert promontory has presented other challenges to Navarro and his team – including coordinating the removal of 13,000 metric tonnes of rock from the site. 

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Searching for life at the ends of the universe

The GMT will peer deeper into the universe than ever before, unveiling the birth of stars, the mysteries of exoplanets, and the formation of galaxies billions of light-years away. One of the revolutionary scientific instruments on the GMT, called the Large Earth Finder, has been optimized to detect the presence of Earth-like exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars deep in the universe.

“To explore beyond what we have ever imagined about our wonderful and inspiring experience.” is how Velko Zuvic sums up the potential of this extraordinary project. Once located, the instrument will analyze the chemical composition of their atmospheres for the first time in history. If there is life out there, perhaps it may be found sooner than we think. As we look to unveil the birth of stars, explore the mysteries of the exoplanets and see the formation of galaxies billions of light-years away, the telescope stands as a testament to humanity's enduring curiosity and quest for knowledge.

As all of the team at the Giant Magellan Telescope likes to say: “The Universe Awaits.”

Meet the Visioneers

“Working on this global, collaborative project is quite simply a unique experience,” says Andres Navarro, WSP Project Manager for the billion-dollar endeavor. Navarro acts as the client’s on-site representative and is also responsible for managing the various contractors and verifying compliance with safety and quality standards. Advanced technology has been instrumental to the day-to-day site work, he says.

The team is based in Santiago, Chile, Denver, USA.

We have implemented a management information system based on ProjectSolve SharePoint, which stores all the project information and is used continuously by our client. Other technologies, such as drones and time-lapse cameras, have also been used regularly.

Other challenges that we have overcome

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