ALMA Inauguration

26 July, 2013 / Read time: 1 minute

This video recorded on March 13, 2013, registers the official inauguration ceremony of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

In its 15 minutes of duration, it records the arrival of different authorities to the Operations Support Facility (OSF), as well as part of the folkloric welcome show, shown at the beginning of the video.

It also includes a speech by ALMA Director Thijs De Graauw; a greeting from the International Space Station (ISS); a speech by ESO Director Tim de Zeeuw; and a speech by the President of the Republic of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, who gives the first official order to the Array Operations Site (AOS) to point the antennas at the center of the Milky Way.

Credits: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).