That should provide a solid connection for the students. Providing a continuous, real-time communications link that allows remote observation from a remote location poses special challenges for the program. That meant another Internet solution had to be found. 14-inch, mountaintop telescope. Communications are, however, only half the story.
Astronomical images are data-intensive.
If students are to get the real-time experience of observing, they can't be waiting forever to get their images back from the mountain. No southern telescope has ever been available to American students in real time. That's a major breakthrough. Bringing the heavens down to Earth for students in real time is an effort that could not happen without advanced computing and network science. The potential for research has even led some students to push boundaries right up to the professional level.