Creating the world's largest astronomical observatory needs the collaboration of many international partners.

The ALMA Project is a partnership between the scientific communities of East Asia, Europe and North America with Chile.

The pieces of the ALMA telescopes arrive at their respective assembly grounds after a long and complicated journey over land and sea.

Here you see the European delivery site run by the Alcatel-EIE-MT Aerospace Consortium, known as the AEM area. AEM is responsible for the construction of 25 of the large 12-meter (39-foot) telescopes for ALMA. Join Adrian Russell as he explains what happenes here at this European telescope area.

Next door to the AEM area is the East Asian staging area run by the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO). They are providing the ALMA Compact Array (ACA), a set of twelve 7-meter (23-foot) telescopes and four 12-meter telescopes, which will form the heart of the gigantic array.

Finally, this enormous building caters to the 25 North American telescopes designed and built by VertexRSI, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. This so-called Vertex Assembly Building protects several 12-meter telescopes in various stages of assembly.
The Vertex building also serves as shelter during 70mph dust storms, allowing staff to continue safely working even in the harshest of weather.

Join Adrian Russell and Lutz Stenvers for an exclusive tour inside the Vertex Assembly Building.