Who keeps the residency running?
As we have known in our last episode of ALMA's Little Universe, OSF staff, during their shifts, are provided with many services that guarantee their comfort and proper work in the heights of the Atacama Desert. In this episode, Maryluz Jara, a Hospitality Services Coordinator, explains how they provide all the food, cleaning, maintenance, and transportation services and prepare everything for any eventuality. Let's discover how this essential task allows ALMA to be hospitable and habitable in a hidden place.
23 Feb 20243min
Whats at OSF?
In this episode of ALMA's Little Universe, we will discuss how the Operation Support Facility is equipped to give their workers all the comforts and services needed, even at almost 3000 meters altitude in the Atacama Desert. The equipment includes offices, cafeterias, a gym with a pool, a barbecue area, and individual dormitories. We will speak with Carlos Bosa, project manager for a new multisport center at ALMA, also with Norikazu Mizuno, ALMA Deputy Director of Operations, who shared with us part of the massive efforts that are made to keep the workers living in good conditions, no matter how adverse the desert's environment and climate are.
16 Feb 20242min
Whats a shift at OSF?
On the Chajnantor Plateau, at 5000 meters altitude, there are the 66 antennas that constitute the ALMA radio telescope. 2 kilometers below is the Operation Support Facility, where many engineers, technicians, and scientists work nights and days. In this episode, Giorgio Siringo, Senior Radio-frequency engineer, explains the team's working schedule. Moreover, Cristian Puentes, Director of Finance and Administration, tells us how the ALMA Observatory takes care of the hospitality for the staff.
9 Feb 20243min
Do the antennas ever break?
The antennas are located in the Atacama Desert at 5000 meters altitude and are constantly exposed to extreme weather conditions and temperatures. How much time will they last? Are they durable through time? In this episode, Mark Galilee, one of the technician engineers of ALMA, will tell us about the antennas and their constant maintenance and inspections to keep the observatory functioning properly.Furthermore, Fabiola Cruzat, an Array Maintenance Group Supervisor, will help us understand the electronics inside the antennas.
2 Feb 20243min
Why are the Receiver Bands keep so cold?
As we have stated in our previous episode, ALMA's multiple receiver bands are used to detect signals from the sky. However, these receiver bands must be kept at very cold temperatures to work properly on their purpose. In this episode, Mark Gallilee and Francisco Pino, who work in the cryogenics of ALMA, explain why and how to operate the complex processes by which the receivers of the antennas are kept at extremely low temperatures in the Atacama Desert, the driest of the Earth. Let's deepen our understanding of this revolutionary gateway to the distant parts of the Cosmos in ALMA's Little Universe.
26 Jan 20243min
What is the Correlator?
How does the supercomputer that translates to binary code all the information received by ALMA antennas operate? In this episode, Lorenzo Martínez-Conde, an engineer who has been working at ALMA Observatory for 15 years, explains how the brain of the system behind this radio telescope operates and how each piece of information we have about the Cosmos is obtained through a complicated mathematical process that synthesizes the observations made.Let's journey through the two essential correlators of ALMA's Little Universe.
12 Jan 20243min
What is interferometry?
We have already referred to the 66 antennas that make up ALMA, but how do they operate as one telescope? In this episode, Giorgio Siringo, Senior Radio-Frequency Engineer, will explain how interferometry works. Furthermore, let's discover how one supercomputer synchronizes and synthesizes the light received through the antennas to constitute only one giant telescope.
5 Jan 20243min
What makes up the antennas?
What technologies have made it possible for the ALMA Observatory to observe and analyze with the accuracy of a human hair in distances of light-years? In this episode, Mark Galilei, technical mechanical lead at ALMA, will explain to us how the multiple receiver bands of each antenna are helping the scientific community to see and understand phenomena far away from us in the Universe.
29 Dec 20232min
