Data collection is but first step.
Only after this data is processed can researchers actually study it. Unfortunately, because of bottlenecks in processing speed, networks and software, the time be tween data collection and image production can amount to days, weeks, and sometimes even months. Such delays impede scientific discovery. The grand challenge in radioastronomy is to develop the computational infrastructure necessary to minimize or, better yet, eliminate time delays due to data processing. The overall objective is to develop innovative tools and techniques that permit observation, image formation and data analysis, all of this collaboratively , and in realtime .