Nan Rendong, the scientist who founded and devoted 22 years to China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) project, died of cancer at the age of 72. Today marks the two-year anniversary of his death, and reminds us of Nan’s achievement of building the largest super-sensitive "ear" on Earth to seek distant sounds in the universe and decode cosmic messages.

Nan Rendong, the chief scientist of the FAST project. (File photo)

FAST, also known as the Sky Eye, started to "watch" the edge of the universe in 2016, while the founding father of the project closed his eyes for the last time. On Sept. 15 2017, just 10 days before the first anniversary of FAST, Nan passed away, leaving a chance for other Chinese astronomers to make a breakthrough discovery.

Nan was working as a visiting professor at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan in the 1990s when he decided to try and realize his ambition. Giving up his well-paid position at one of the world's top scientific research institutes, Nan returned to China in 1994 to lead the FAST project, poured all his energy into the project.

"Attracted by its mystery and glory, we can go beyond mediocrity and step into the vast beautiful universe," Nan wrote.

China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). (File photo)

Once viewed by many as an impossible mission, the project’s main structure - a 4,450-panel reflector as large as 30 football pitches - was completed three years ago. It is capable of searching for sun-like stars, using technology five times more powerful than what was previously available. It can receive electromagnetic signals from 10 billion light-years away, and perhaps bring the search for extraterrestrial life closer to what would be an astonishing conclusion.

File photo of Nan Rendong

To better commemorate his achievements, an asteroid was named after Nan Rendong with approval from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 2018.

(Xinhua contributed to this article, compiled by Wang Zi)