The first of the vital European receiver systems that will become part of the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) project in the Atacama Desert in Chile have been shipped to South America from the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire, UK, where they were assembled and tested at the European Front-End Integration Centre (FEIC).

The receiver, which will be the first to be added to the array from Europe (the very first was sent from the US last year), is a vital component that detects the extremely faint signals from space. This is the first of 26 units to be sent to Chile from the FEIC over a three-year period. RAL was awarded the contract from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in late 2007 because of its substantial heritage and expertise in the field of millimeter and sub-millimeter wave technology and its large-scale facilities that are ideally suited to the FEIC infrastructure requirements.

Professor Brian Ellison, ALMA UK Project Manager, based at RAL, said, "This is a major milestone for the ALMA project and in particular with respect to its European contribution. Expert teams in Europe, North America and East Asia have combined their skills to produce cutting-edge technology for ALMA. I am delighted that the UK, in addition to its many other technical and scientific contributions to the array, is playing such a vital and successful role in the provision of the core receiver technology."

Gie Han Tan from ESO, manager responsible for all European ALMA Front-End activities, added, "This delivery involves the most advanced sub-millimeter receiver currently available in the world. I'm proud to have been working towards this important milestone with colleagues from all ALMA partners and within ESO. It is the result of many years of development, very hard work and commitment of all contributors".