Chilean Congress Representatives from the Science and Technology Commission visit ALMA
Announcements

Chilean Congress Representatives from the Science and Technology Commission visit ALMA

19 June, 2015 / Read time: 3 minutes

For the first time, representatives of the Science and Technology Commission of the Chilean House of Representatives visited ALMA to see firsthand the scientific and technological relevance of the radio observatory on a national and global level.

Representatives Víctor Torres, President of the commission, and José Antonio Kast accepted the invitation extended by ALMA and its international partners. The visit of the representatives was organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs' Division of Energy, Science and Technology and Innovation (DECYTI in Spanish), represented by Deputy Director, Karen Molina, during the visit.

150619_ALMA_diputados_01

From left to right: Tetsuo Hasegawa, Legal Representative of NAOJ in Chile; A. María Skoknic, lawyer and Secretary of commissions; Representative Víctor Torres, President of the Science and Technology Commission of the House of Representatives; Dr. Eduardo Hardy, Director of AUI in Chile; Karen Molina, Deputy Director of DECYTI; Dr. Pierre Cox, Director of ALMA; and Representative José Antonio Kast. Credit: AUI/NRAO, S. Cabezón.

ALMA Director, Pierre Cox, thanked the representatives for having accepted the invitation to visit the observatory, extended during their presentation of the project to the House's Science and Technology Commission last year in Valparaiso. "It was an honor to show the Commission the largest observatory in the world, to explain its complexity, and also to show the contribution of the Chilean staff, who were able to share directly with the representatives during their visit,", said Pierre Cox.

In fact, during the visit, both representatives also met with representatives of the ALMA Workers' Union at an altitude of 5,000 meters, while they made a ring in the observatory antennas"The congressmen were very interested in seeing firsthand the invaluable work of the Chilean team," said Dr. Eduardo Hardy, Director of Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) in Chile, an institution that represents the North American segment of this scientific project. The representatives also motivated the union to place importance on the scientific continuance of the largest observatory in the world in their next union negotiations.

150619_ALMA_diputados_02

Congressmen met with ALMA workers. Credit: S. Cabezón.

More information 

ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (U.S.) and NINS (Japan), along with NRC (Canada), NSC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (South Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ.

Contact:

Valeria Foncea 
Education and Public Outreach Officer
Joint ALMA Observatory
Santiago, Chile
Tel: +56 2 467 6258
Cell: +56 9 75871963
Email: [email protected]