Not so long ago we covered an article about the 28-wheeler antenna transporter, which turns on a dime, to build the 66 radio telescopes to build a radio telescope like no other. The project called ALMA is based 16,500 ft. above sea level. The Chajnantor Plain in the Chilean Andes was chosen following a worldwide search due to its cloudless skies and razor-thin atmosphere, which will allow the antennas' super-sensitive receivers to detect electromagnetic wavelengths of less than a hair's width, down to 0.3 millimeters. At that height mental clarity diminishes, movements are slowed. Employees working there have to undergo regular physicals and are allowed to stay at the high site for no more than 8 hours at a stretch, after which a physician checks their blood pressure, makes them sign a release form and hands over an oxygen tank as a precaution. When completed this will be planet's largest and most advanced radio telescope, comprising of 66 radio antennas spread across 10 miles and linked to the world's most extensive superconducting electronic receiving system. Researchers will be able to create a giant zoom lens with resolutions 10 times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope. The U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Research Council of Canada will supply 25 antennas, with another 25 coming from Europe and 16 from Japan.

The ALMA project consists mostly of antennas that are 12-meter-wide parabolic reflectors, or dish, which will collect the incoming electromagnetic waves and bounce them to a receiver. The receivers are blazingly fast superconducting tunnel junction mixers that will digitize and transmit data at 96 gigabits per second through fiber optic cables. The ALMA project is funded by a consortium of astronomical organizations from North America, Europe and Japan, the $1.3 billion project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Source