Jeremy Armarndis, Senior Correspondent, Reporting
FIRST CITY, REYDOVAN PRIME (5 October 2502): A powerful new satellite receiver station, her design immortalized in the annals of history, has been built in a small town on Reydovan Prime.
The town of New Parkes carries on the tradition of the town in Australia which it was named after. In AD 1969 (227 Pre-Empire Date), the historic landing on Earth's moon was recorded by Parkes Radio Telescope, better known as "the Dish". Parkes was operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). The science division handling observatories has almost the exact name, the Republic Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (RSIRO). Chancellor Underwood, who admits to being somewhat of a fanatic of history, ordered the construction of an observatory to the exact specifications of Parkes, right down to the 210 foot (64m) dish. Though not as large as most observatories of the future, it fulfills its role. The interior has all the latest technology of the 26th century, including the advanced Federation LCARS and other systems.
Underwood, who was 15 when he first heard of Parkes, has had a longtime fascination with the pure history of the now 541-year-old observatory. "Parkes is a symbol," he said. "A symbol that even if all Hell breaks loose, you can still go on with what you had intended to do. Therefore, I dedicate this new observatory to the brave people who ran CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope on Earth during many years of galactic mapping and historical findings."
RSIRO New Parkes Subspace Telescope is now in operation, mapping events in other galaxies as well as our own.
