Question 2 of 21

How much did it cost to build the world's most expensive telescope?

... The world's most expensive telescope, ALMA, will be fully functional in 2013. It cost an estimated $1.3 billion dollars to build ALMA.

Question 3 of 21

What does ALMA stand for?

... ALMA stands for Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. Alma is also the Spanish word for "soul."

Question 4 of 21

Where is ALMA located?

... The telescope sits on a plateau in Los Andes, about 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) north of Santiago, the capital of Chile.

Question 5 of 21

Besides being the most expensive telescope on Earth, ALMA also has the honor of being ________ telescope.

... Sitting at an altitude of 16,000 feet (4,877 meters), ALMA is the highest telescope in the world (without counting the space-orbiting Hubble, of course!).

Question 6 of 21

Although ALMA is the most expensive telescope in the world, it is not the biggest. Which country is home to the largest telescope?

... China's FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope) already is considered the largest telescope in the world, even though construction won't be finished until 2016. FAST will have a total diameter of 1,640 feet (500 meters).

Question 7 of 21

What's the number one thing ALMA can do better than any other telescope ever built?

... ALMA can detect gas clouds and other cold objects that are as far as 70 million light-years away. It also has the highest resolution of any telescope ever built.

Question 8 of 21

Although ALMA is the most expensive telescope on Earth, the Hubble telescope cost even more to build. How much was it?

... The Hubble telescope cost $3 billion to build. Since the Hubble is in space, it doesn't qualify as the world's most expensive telescope because … well, because it's not in this world.

Question 9 of 21

How many radio telescope antennas form part of ALMA?

... Of the 66 antennas, some are 39 feet (12 meters) and some are 23 feet (7 meters) in diameter.

Question 10 of 21

Once it's fully operational, ALMA will allow astronomers to do something that has never been possible before. What exactly?

... Sagittarius, a massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, is currently obscured by galactic dust. ALMA will be the first telescope able to see through it, allowing astronomers a clear view of one of the most mysterious matters in the universe: a black hole.

Question 11 of 21

What makes the air in the Atacama desert perfect for ALMA's location?

... The air in Atacama is both very thin and very dry, making it easier for the telescope to send waves to -- and receive waves from -- space.

Question 12 of 21

Which country is home to many of the largest, most expensive telescopes in the world?

... ALMA is in good company: Chile is home to an impressive number of telescopes, including some of the largest, most advanced and most expensive ones in the world. This is because the air in certain areas of Chile is thinner than anywhere else in the world, providing clearer images.

Question 13 of 21

What's the world's second most expensive telescope?

... Despite its somewhat goofy name, the European Extremely Large Telescope is real. Or at least it will be when they finish building it in 2018. By the time it's done, it will have cost about $1.17 billion.

Question 14 of 21

The Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, is a powerful telescope still in the design stage. Despite being 10 times more powerful than Hubble, the cost of building TMT is surprisingly low. How much is the estimated budget?

... The estimated cost of building TMT about $1.2 billion. Construction was supposed to start in mid-2011, but funds have not been raised, so the date has been pushed to 2013.

Question 15 of 21

The Hubble was originally supposed to cost only $1.5 billion. What happened to almost double its price?

... The Hubble was sent into space in 1990, but scientists discovered soon after that it needed to be calibrated. This calibration didn't happen until 1993, when a servicing mission reached the telescope. The calibration (and related costs) increased the cost of Hubble to almost $3 billion.

Question 16 of 21

NASA's Great Observatories program consists of a number of telescopes sent into space to record different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. How many telescopes have been designed and sent into space so far?

... The Hubble telescope was the first sent into space under NASA's program, and three others followed. When added, the cost of these four telescopes exceeds $10 billion.

Question 17 of 21

The largest U.S. telescope is located at ________ .

... The largest U.S. telescope is at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Until China's FAST telescope is finished, the Puerto Rican telescope is technically the largest single-aperture telescope in the world.

Question 18 of 21

Besides studying a black hole, what are scientists hoping to accomplish with ALMA?

... Because ALMA can read wavelengths emitted from very great distances, it will allow scientists to observe planets in the process of forming, as well as galaxies collapsing and merging. Until now, these actions have been too far away to be visible, even with the most advanced telescopes.

Question 19 of 21

Which telescope project was at risk of being cancelled because of its high cost?

... Congress actually voted on whether NASA should go ahead with building the James Webb Space Telescope. At the time of the vote, $3 billion had already been spent. Congress finally gave the OK to continue construction and upped the budget. The JWST should launch into space in 2018 to look at some of earliest galaxies formed in the universe.

Question 20 of 21

Which telescope, already in space, is hunting for habitable planets?

... Kepler is aimed directly as looking for transit signs that indicate planets circling stars like our sun, then gathering data that can help astronomers decide if the planets are habitable. Hubble has spotted possible planets, but its intergalactic mission is broader, and James Webb hasn't launched yet.

Question 21 of 21

When the James Webb Space Telescope is finished, it will become the most expensive telescope ever built for Earth or space. How much will the James Webb Space Telescope cost?

... At $8.8 billion, this will be the world's most expensive telescope and also the most powerful (about 100 times more sensitive than Hubble).

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