An ALMA antenna moves in the night

The movement of an ALMA antenna during the night at the Operations Support Facility (OSF), the base camp for the every day, routine operation of the observatory.

The OSF is located at an altitude of about 2900 metres, quite high compared to standard living conditions, but still quite acceptable for scientific projects in astronomy of similar scope.

The OSF is also the Assembly, Integration, Verification, and Commissioning (AIVC) station for all the high technology equipment before being moved to the Array Operations Site (AOS), located at 5000 metres altitude.