A Road Trip to New Mexico
August 12-17, 2001
NRAO and the Very Large Array Radio Telescope
Socorro, NM
(Click on Image for Enlarged View)
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Swel's Family Restaurant
in Albuquerque
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National Radio Astronomy Observatory - The Very Large Array
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The VLA Visitor Center
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Radio Frequency Sensitive Area: Turn Off All Cellular
Phones, Microwave Ovens and Radio Transmitters
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The Administration Building Nestled in the Arms of the Array
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The Start of the
Walking Tour
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Along the Northern Arm
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A Dish Up Close
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Looking South Towards the Maintenance Building
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Contact:
Jody Foster Slept Here!
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Commemorating 20 Years of Frontier Science:
August 23, 2000
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Wildflowers Adorn the Desert after a Summer Rain
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The Eastern Arm of the VLA
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Sunflowers Frame Mt. Withington Alongside US 60
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Crossing the Rio Grande on US 380 near San Antonio, NM
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Desert Twilight
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Roadkill on the Windshield
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Clouds over Mt. Carrizozo
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Thursday morning, after a few last minute errands in Santa
Fe, I took off for Socorro and the Very Large Array Radio Telescope. Socorro
is about 250 miles south down I-25, via Albuquerque. I-25 follows the course
of the Rio Grande straight down the middle of New Mexico all the way to Las
Cruces and El Paso, where it becomes the Texas border with Mexico.
Since I did not leave
until after noon, I started to get hungry. So, following the signs, I got
off the freeway and immediately got lost! Fortunately, I chanced upon a
likely looking place called Swel's Family Restaurant, somewhere south of
Albuquerque, and had a nice lunch of New Mexico style Mexican food with
sopapillas and honey for desert. The
waitress was very nice, too. It often pays to take a chance. It certainly
beat Denny's.
The Very Large Array, or the VLA as it is known, is situated
on US 60 just west of the small mining town of Magdalena, NM, and about 60
miles west of Socorro. Socorro itself is a pretty nasty place, but the
scenery along the highway approaching the VLA was typical New Mexico.
The VLA is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, or NRAO.
This, the world's largest radio-telescope array, is open for self-guided
walking tours daily. Their website is www.nrao.edu.
After my visit, I headed east on US 380 via Carrizozo, to
spend the night in Roswell.
Unless otherwise indicated:
All Content © Copyright 2001 by Edward P. Flaspoehler, Jr.
All rights reserved.
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