Square Kilometre Array decision looming. Heading for a compromise split?

MRO site in West Australia, with 30 of the 34 dishes
that have already been built showing

The ABC reports that an SKA expert group is due to report back to the SKA project committee today on whether a compromise solution is viable.

It's hard to see how the advice could be good though, given any decision to split the project across two sites (South Africa and Australia/New Zealand) would add incredibly to the cost. The SKA will generate stunning volumes of data never before handled in any data centre worldwide. To have a split project would lead to duplication of much of this data handling infrastructure.

Dr Brian Boyle, Project Director - Australia & New Zealand SKA project 

I've posted previously about the SKA, and the importance of having a site that is currently clear of radio frequency interference, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The South African site does not do a good job of meeting that key requirement. But, there is pressure among some of the funding countries to go with South Africa as this would allow them to count their contributions as aid!

Meanwhile, Dr Brian Boyle (@BrianBoyleSKA) and the rest of the ANZ SKA bid have been forging ahead with the build of the Murchison Radio Observatory - a scaled-down version of the SKA with just 36 dishes, as opposed to SKA's 3000! As the photo from Dr Boyle shows, there are currently 34 dishes built and undergoing commissioning. Even without the full SKA project, this new facility will take radio astronomy in Australia a big leap forward.

Dr Boyle is in Amsterdam now as part of the decision committee. He has been maddeningly diligent with his confidentiality over the entire decision-making process. His most recent tweet on the subject was merely: "Off to Amsterdam later today for #SKA_telescope Members meeting on Friday. Site announcement? Can't say."

But before he left, he posted this article about the Australian and New Zealand bid with Cosmos.

Brian - the suspense is killing us out here...