just when you thought things couldn't get any worse

An Army built VLA

1948, The Army Builds a VLA

1st Edition

In 1948, a construction team arrived by rail with heavy equipment on Army railcars. They moved into the large grassy flats that makes up the valley and started construction of something. Soon, trains started arriving with equipment and large panels. The men were very busy working 24 hours a day.

Slowly large satellite antennas took shape. There were six in all spread out in a star like pattern. This pattern is call a Very Large Array where many smaller satellite antennas join together to act as one large antennas.

It’s a mystery why this VLA was built and what it was used for.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following image was discovered in an old Cicely archive.

An Army built VLA
The old Army VLA circa. 1948

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