Photo – Page 36 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Welders at the VLA

Millions of tons of steel make up the 28 antennas of the Very Large Array. It takes a dedicated crew of skilled welders to keep the antennas in safe, working order and to construct new metal installations when needed around the busy New Mexico observatory site.

Digging trenches for fiber optic lines at The VLA

Fiber Trenches at the VLA

Part of the major multi-year upgrade to the Very Large Array was to replace its original metal piped wave guide with fiber optics. Digging the deep trenches for the 2760 miles of fiber was a difficult but necessary task that ensured the connection between antennas and other equipment functioned properly.

VLA Transporter Technicians

These technicians operate and maintain the two Antenna Transporters and lead the critical safe moves of the antennas of the Very Large Array in New Mexico.

VLA Antenna Transporter peddles by a telescope

There are over 40 miles of double tracks stretched throughout the VLA for these transporters. These massive machines can gently lift and carry these 230-ton antennas around the array with ease. The antennas’ distances from each other are changed several times a year to change the VLA’s eye on the sky. Each one cycles into and out of the Antenna Assembly Building for routine servicing over the course of several years.

A VLA Transporter stopped on the tracks

There are only two Antenna Transporters at the Very Large Array that are used to move antennas into new configurations. Here we can see the massive red machine stretched across the tracks.

Mountains surrounding the VLA

The Very Large Array in central New Mexico is surrounded by the San Mateo Mountains, which can be seen in the distant background of this photo.

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