Jonathan Le Bourhis
22 June 2026: Perched on a hill at the northern edge of the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ campus, a giant satellite dish has spent nearly two decades sitting silent – now, thanks to a passionate team of staff, students and community volunteers, the 10-metre radio telescope – affectionately known as “º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ10” – is coming back to life.
Associate Professor has spent the past three years helping lead an ambitious restoration project to reactivate the telescope, which has remained largely unused since physics teaching and research ceased at the University around 2008.
"The goal is to see value in this machine, return it to working order, and create a community to care for it and use it," Dr Wain said.
The telescope has a remarkable history. Built by US company Scientific Atlanta, it was originally installed at the Orroral Valley Satellite Monitoring Station in the late 1980s. When the site closed in the early 1990s, the telescope was jointly purchased by the University and the Department of Communications and relocated to campus, where it supported teaching and research for more than a decade.
After years of inactivity, the Faculty of Arts and Design began exploring whether the telescope could have a new future.
Inspired by ideas of adaptive reuse, sustainability and community participation, Dr Wain and her collaborators developed a vision that extends beyond traditional science and engineering.
"We see it as an instrument for everyone," she said.
"We'd love to see roboticists program it to dance, artists use it to beam radio poetry into the sky, or students develop practical conservation skills by learning how a large machine works and how to care for it."
Bringing the telescope back to life has not been without challenges.
One of the team's biggest achievements was stabilising the dish, after years of exposure to the elements had left it swinging freely (albeit slowly) in the wind. In a carefully planned operation, the team secured the structure and restored safe access to its internal systems.
Another milestone came when they tested the telescope's original azimuth motor, which controls its rotation.
"It moved beautifully," Dr Wain said.
The team is now preparing to test the elevation motor, a crucial step towards restoring the telescope's full movement, while preserving as many original heritage components as possible.
For Dr Wain, the project is about more than machinery.
Canberra has a rich history of astronomy and space tracking, from Mt Stromlo Observatory to the Tidbinbilla and Honeysuckle Creek tracking stations. Yet those facilities can sometimes feel distant or inaccessible to people without a scientific background.
The University's telescope offers something different.
"It's smaller, it's on campus, and it gives people a chance to get close to the technology and imagine their own place in its future," she said.
To celebrate the project's progress, the team opened the site to visitors on the winter solstice – the shortest day of the year, and one of the most significant dates in the astronomical calendar.
The event marked an opportunity to showcase how far the restoration has come and invited the wider community to become part of the telescope's next chapter.
"We want people to know that º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ10 is a living machine again," Dr Wain said.
"We're exploring the beyond right here, and we'd love people to bring their skills and ideas and be part of it."