ELT mirror segments off for delivery

Captured outside a storage facility near Poitiers, France, this photograph shows a lorry, or truck, full of segments of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) main mirror, ready to start their journey. Construction of the ELT is truly an international endeavour, with numerous European and Chilean organisations contributing to the design, assembly and shipping of the telescope parts. The delicate task of transporting the segments was assigned to Danish company DSV, which is shipping the first set of segments via German company Hapag-Lloyd.