The largest observatory of the world began to form

The world's largest antennas of the ALMA Observatory (Atacama Large Millimeter / Submillimeter Array) in the world to observe light from millimeters downwards - between infrared and radio waves - to help astronomers see the coldest and furthest objects on the cosmic border, were put up for installation in the Andes, part of Chile.

This is the most modern antennas with international cooperation. Fabrication of antenna rigs is Japan, shipping is Europe, electronic devices inside of the US, many European countries and Asia. The Astronomical Observatory is a great work of world scientists, for astronomers to answer questions about the origin of the universe and planets. It has satellite stations at a height of 5,000 meters. Only this location is dry and very clear so that the station can operate.

The transport of equipment weighing exactly 100 tons, 12 meters in diameter, to the 2,900-meter-high Chajnantor plateau through a rugged road is extremely difficult and complicated. Here, engineers will assemble the main antenna, two rear antennas will be transported in 2010-2011 so that from 2012 it will be officially put into operation, opening a new development phase of Thien industry. literary.

Start

One of the heavy freight vehicles 'carries' a 100-ton antenna on its back starts a 28km journey to get to the specified location.

Strange scenery

The normal antenna transport vehicle has a speed of 7.5 miles per hour, but carrying this very special item must go very slowly to ensure safety for the ALMA antenna. Cars only dare to move more slowly than pedestrians. It took more than 7 hours to pass the first stage.
Continue 'crawling' on the road

The location of the ALMA antenna installation is extremely dry and the air is very thin. It is ideal to observe the sky and look deeply into the universe. But the installation is very elaborate, adjusting every millimeter on the foundation.
Red mountains

The ALMA antenna platform is designed to be able to operate under the extreme conditions of the Andess mountain range with very low humidity, very strong winds and temperatures of -4 to 68 degrees F.
Assembly time

The first ALMA antennas arrived at the assembly site on the Chajnantor plateau.From here, the permissible accuracy of the location so that the 100 tons of iron and steel block a screw must not deviate from the drawing - a mandatory requirement when observing very far spaces, to the road. border the universe, just like the sentence "wrong one drink a thousand .".

Ready to sweep into the sky

Following this first antennas, two more antenna rigs will be loaded and assembled, so that by the end of 2011, the test operation is stable so that the following year will work normally, becoming an invaluable tool for World-wide astronomers to explore the universe together.
Work completed

The team of workers, engineers and experts took pictures before the No. 1 antenna platform when the work was completed.