I have always been fascinated by astronomy and space exploration so places like this have a special appeal to me. The open house event consisted of a series of behind the scenes tours guided by one of the scientists working at the facility. If you saw the 1997 movie starring Jodi Foster, "Contact" you might recognize the huge radio dishes. Much of the action was filmed at the VLA. When I saw the movie, I had already been to the VLA once and had read the book "Contact" by Carl Sagan. I also had read Sagan's 1980 book "Cosmos". (I told you this stuff fascinated me!)
Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll do a more extensive post about my visit to the VLA on my travel blog. But, for now here are two photos, one a close up view of one of the dishes and the other a view looking out on one leg of the "Y". I enjoyed the tour very much!
14 comments:
E.T. phone home.
Checkout your local PBS station for space documentaries.
Wow!
I do remember the series on TV but it is/was not my cup of tea at the time.
I am not so triggered by outer space.
I am very happy that I found your blog! My brother lived in Arizona, Phoenix and then Sun City. Through the lens of your camera I see nicer places where he lived. He passed away early this year. Thank you so much for sharing!
The people in the 2nd pic really give a sense of scale, Sharon! They are huge!
Fantastic - Keep Exploring There
Cheers
They are huge.
How cool! "Contact" is one of Dave's favorite movies, so I've seen it many times. I would love to go to the VLA in person. Are they really listening to all those mysterious space noises and trying to find other civilizations? Or was that just movie mythology?
Very large indeed -- 30 miles! Wow.
I'm amazed the their size. Very cool indeed!
No doubt searching for intelligent life to run for president this next year. :-)
Open house! That would be worth the drive. There is an array of huge units like these - I don't know if they're the same equipment or purpose - running along the base of the White Mountains in eastern California. We saw them regularly when we drove by (miles away) but didn't get the impression they'd be open to visitors. How nice to be able to get close like this.
I have driven through that area a couple of times years ago but never thought to (or was invited to) stop. It's very impressive.
Looks like a scene right out of a science fiction movie Sharon 👽
Have to wonder if the place I used to work has dealing with that place
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