Photo – Page 43 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

ALMA From a Distance

The Chajnantor Plain is an ancient lava bed sitting at 16,500 feet up in the Chilean Andes. It provides ALMA with dry skies and enough flat expanse to separate the antennas by tens of miles.

Wendy Harper and Erik Gaines, two technicians at the ALMA Front End Integration Facility at NRAO’s Technology Center in Virginia, enjoying a laugh during the filming of a documentary about the building of ALMA.

ALMA Front End Integration Center

ALMA Front End Integration Center team members Wendy Harper and Erik Gaines ready the center’s testing lab. Behind them is a model of the back of an ALMA antenna dish. The Front End is the cryogenically-cooled cabinet filled with the ten receivers used by ALMA astronomers. This testing facility reproduces the movements of an antenna and provides simulated observations for the receivers. Put through its paces, Front Ends for ALMA are adjusted to perfection before being shipped to Chile for integration into assembled ALMA antennas. This facility at NRAO in Charlottesville, Virginia tested 22 Front Ends for ALMA. Our partners in Japan and Europe delivered the other 44.

ALMA antennas and Front End Service Vehicle

Front End Service truck rises to repair antennas

The Front End Service Vehicle raises 20 feet high to service a 12-meter Japanese ALMA telescope in the active array at 16,500 feet elevation in northern Chile. The FESV is based on the design of an airline catering truck. It is 36 feet long, 8 feet wide, and weighs 26 tons and has a cargo hold that can keep receiver cryogenics cold and safe.

Maintenance Truck Arriving for Duty

A 12-meter European ALMA telescope sits behind the Technical Facility at the ALMA Operations Support Facility in northern Chile. The Front End Service Vehicle, whose back end can elevate to 20-feet, drives toward the facility.

ALMA antenna and Front End Service Vehicle

Tight shot of elevated Front End Service Vehicle

The Front End Service Vehicle raises 20 feet high to service a 12-meter North American ALMA telescope. The FESV is based on the design of an airline catering truck. It is 36 feet long, 8 feet wide, and weighs 26 tons and has a cargo hold that can keep receiver cryogenics cold and safe.

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