ALMA and REUNA forge partnership
6 February, 2012 / Read time: 2 minutes
ALMA has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National University Network (Red Universitaria Nacional, or REUNA) to improve connectivity between the ALMA Operations Support Facility, located at an altitude of 2,900 meters in the Antofagasta Region, and ALMA's central office in Santiago.
ALMA, a telescope with a revolutionary design composed of 66 high-precision antennas located on the Chajnantor Plain at 5,000 meters above sea level, requires a high connectivity capacity.
REUNA provides advanced connectivity services and promotes both national and international cooperation and integration of Chilean higher education, science and innovation through its network infrastructure.
Thijs de Graauw, director of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and José Palacios, president of the REUNA Board of Directors, also agreed to explore the potential for operating a link to Chilean universities through the REUNA trunk network.
ALMA is an international partnership between Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with Chile. The recently signed memorandum of understanding, therefore, is also aimed at improving connectivity alternatives for distributing the scientific data collected by the observatory to the three regional ALMA centers.
Thijs de Graauw, ALMA director, and José Palacios, president of the Board of Directors of REUNA, during the signing ceremony.
According to Thijs de Graauw, “it is crucial for ALMA to have good connectivity, not only for the possibility of improving contact with each of the entities involved in this astronomical project, but also because access to high-capacity networks can enable remote operations."
This joint effort promotes the exchange of information, and opens the door to other future collaboration of mutual interest.
