Lore in training

Lore, one of the two ALMA transporters, drives up the 28-kilometre road from the ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF) to the 5000-metre altitude Array Operations Site (AOS). In the picture, Lore is being tested as it carries a dummy antenna load (the white structure visible on top). In the background is the Salar de Atacama. The ALMA transporters, named Lore and Otto, are twin custom vehicles designed to carry the 100-tonne ALMA antennas, and position them with accuracy within millimetres. 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.