Chile Travel, May 1994

NRAO was still looking for a site for the Millimeter Array when Paul Vanden Bout and the late Bob Brown made their very first exploratory trip to Chile, 18-23 May 1994. In 2004, Bob wrote about the trip, saying, "I remember vividly our first trip to Chile. It was in May 1994 where we went to see the two 'best' sites that had been identified by the SAO group, both of those sites being near Ollague. The next day we ended up stuck in the sand of the Paso de Jama, but clearly impressed that this area, not the area near Ollague was better if for no reason [than] because of its accessibility. .... Specifically, re Ollague, we visited sites #19 and 20 on the SAO list of candidate sites and there are photos of both (which look like everything else in the Atacama, barren and flat). .... The final result, identification of the Chajnantor site, did not occur on this trip. Instead, that was done on the day following the visit of Bill Harris and Hugh Van Horn to Chile in October 1994." In this photo taken by Bob Brown, Paul Vanden Bout (white hat), Riccardo Giovanelli (light blue sweater), and Hernan Quintana (dark sweater) gas up the rental car in Antofagasta at the start of the trip.

Papers of Robert L. Brown

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1994-05

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