Assembling European antennas

Two European antennas are clearly visible at the AEM Consortium's Site Erection Facility, located at the 2900-metre-high ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF). The ALMA array will initially be composed of 66 antennas, provided by the different partners. ESO, the European partner in ALMA, has ordered 25 12-metre antennas, with an option for an additional seven, from the AEM Consortium. The antennas are integrated and tested by each partner. They are then tested by the ALMA project to verify that they meet the technical specifications, before final acceptance. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is the largest astronomical project in existence and is a truly global partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ESO is the European partner in ALMA.