Cool runnings

The ability to reposition its antennas is part of what makes the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) such a powerful telescope. ALMA uses two of these enormous transporters, which have been named Otto and Lore. The twin vehicles are 20 metres long, 10 metres wide and 6 metres high, and each has 28 tyres. They contain power generators to maintain the cooling systems (cryogenics) that allow the antennas to keep operating while they are being transported.

ALMA will be composed initially of 66 high precision antennas. This image shows the last antenna handover on 30 September 2013.