Warning: Ok instead of just history this will include a bit of science.

The VLA project started in 1961 when the process of designing the VLA was proposed to the scientific communities and then the government.   Extraterrestrial Radio waves were first detected in 1933 by Karl Jansky of Bell Telephone Laboratories.  He found radio wave radiation coming from the Milky Way. Later observations identified different sources of radio emission. So many new discoveries stars, galaxies, quasars, pulsars, masers. Even the discovery of evidence for the Big Bang theory was made with radio astronomy. By 1937, the first parabolic radio telescope started observations in Wheaton, Illinois.  Many more observatories were built over the next 20 years.

In 1961, National Radio Astronomy Organization began designing a radio telescope that could make images with the resolution comparable to the best optical telescopes. By 1967 a proposal for the construction of the Very Large Array (VLA) was made but it was not until 1970 that  approval was made for construction.

I had seen articles about the proposal while in middle school and it sparked a lot of interest in the project.  With optical telescopes we observe only a small amount of the energy we could if we used other instruments.  Radio astronomy expands on that range dramatically.

The VLA was complete in 1980 for $78M making it by far the most powerful and most successful radio telescope ever built.   High power computers in combination with specialized mathematics such as  Fourier transform combine the data from multiple antennas creates a virtual "lens" the size distance between the separation in the combined dishes.  If the distance between the end of each "arm" of dishes is 5 miles then the telescope would act as a 5 mile wide lens.  The more dishes spread along each arm the more focus the lens would have making a clearer observation.  

The valley where the VLA was constructed was selected for its distance from any large city and the walls of the valley blocking almost any interference. The 28 dishes are 82 feet in diameter weighing over 200 tons each and mounted double parallel railroad tracks that extend for 13 miles in a Y.  This allows the dishes to be moved close together for some observations and far apart for others.  The dishes are locked together and move as one. They are surprisingly fast when they swing to point to a new position in the sky. When the dishes need to be in a different configuration they are lifted one at a time and moved to a new ground mount by a special locomotive designed just for that purpose.

The area has special restrictions on electronics of any kind.  No cell towers or use of cell phones in the area.  Anything that could produce radio waves is checked. Even microwave ovens are restricted. 

VLA Electronic Device Policy:
Please have ALL electronic devices (cell phones, tablets, or anything else with an “On/Off” switch) in airplane mode, with Wifi and Bluetooth powered off. Power down your device. 

If you plan to use your electronic device to take photographs, you may briefly turn them on (while in airplane mode) to take your pictures, and then power your device off again once you’ve done so.

Please turn off ALL WIFI and Bluetooth devices including GPS, back up cameras, wireless headphones, Fitbit, etc. This includes devices both on your person and in your vehicle.

Visitors arriving in RVs should ensure all electronic devices are off. The use of microwave ovens while on site even in your RV is strictly prohibited.

Digital and film cameras are allowed. Visitors may take pictures of anything they wish inside and outside of the buildings from the designated visitor path.

We even took off our watches and left them in the truck as they are Bluetooth.

We checked in at the visitors building which includes a museum and gift shop.

There are several displays outside on the grounds.

We walked out to one of the dishes.  It is near the center of the array and actively in use for observations.

Several movies have had scenes filmed at the VLA. Terminator Salvation (2009), Armageddon (1998), and Contact (1997).  Because the VLA is never offline and always observing anyone requesting to film finds there are very strict requirements for having a crew working on site.  The scientists sometimes have reserved times years in advance and are not interested in having their plans disrupted.

The locomotive was at the "Barn".

The new dishes have more range and many more will be installed.  Instead of 29 dishes there will be more than 200 eighteen meter antennas.  They will be spread across a much larger area and some will even be in Mexico.  This will make the observatory 10 times more sensitive.  It will also be in a spiral pattern. 

We returned to Socorro and that night were able to just barely see the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS C2023 A3.  

We start our trip back to Logan in the morning.

Breakfast and talking with new friends.

Our plan is to visit the VLA (Very Large Array).  This is the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  I have wanted to visit the array since the 1980s.

Breakfast at 5:30am. We slept in a bit.  This has been an amazing event just exhausting.

Then watching the morning glow and balloons flying overhead till about 10 am. Several dropped into the far end of the field. We did not help any this morning.

We got the schedule.

Several came down on the far end of the field near the RVs.  Only one came down on our side.  I ran out to help hold down the basket but - GET THIS -  he actually set down to get some coffee.  That is some serious skills. The Fantasy Caravan people ran out with a couple cups of coffee and some breakfast pastry.   The pilot asked me to look around for any balloons above and give him two thumbs up if he was clear.  I did and ran back over to hold down the basket while he put some heat into the balloon until he was pulling up on us.  He told us to release and away they went to the south over the RVs including ours.

Nice morning.

Up early.  Again.  Breakfast.  The Dawn Patrol was already up and flying over the RVs.
Soon we were on a bus to the festival  One balloon had set down in the field.

​We arrived at the field and balloons were filling.  Many were soon up but only a few minutes later the stopped because of the wind.  I helped with one.  Holding down the basket while they decided if they wanted to go up, stay on the ground (static), or deflated.  Eventually the pilot decided to deflate.  It was interesting talking to him and hearing the back and forth with the Zebras.   As I said in earlier posts “Zebras” are sort of like referees and dressed in black and white stripes.

The decision had already been made that the Special Shapes balloons would not be flying that morning.

We returned to the RV and the wind had changed because several balloons were flying over head.

At least half-a-dozen landed in the field and we helped them down.

Done and back to the RV by 10am.  Busy morning.

In the evening, we went in for the night glow, drone show and fireworks.   It was a lot of fun and we saw many of the shapes balloons light up. 

Next, there was a parachute team that was lit up and had their own fireworks.  The drone show was the most extensive we had seen so far. As the fireworks started, we headed back to the shuttle bus for our return to the RV.

As we ready to head out balloons were passing overhead.  There was plenty of time before our train trip so we walked down to watch and possibly help with balloons that might land.

We have not been to Santa Fe since the 80’s and the trip up and back on the train was great.  Oh and it was free for seniors. Cool!

It was a short walk of a few blocks to the old town, oldest church, oldest house, Loreta chapel, the plaza, …
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Every building is required to be in a style and color approved by a city committee.  The whole city is like a huge HOA.

​We stopped at the oldest church in the continental United States.  It was originally built about 1610 but the building has be rebuilt at least twice. Supposedly the design and much of the wood is original.  The wood statue of Saint Michael is from the early 1700s.

History Warning:

I am going to go into a bit of history and legend of the chapel.  Well, actually the spiral stair case.

In 1872, the Sisters of Loretto, which was the Catholic religious order at the church commissioned a chapel to be built for their girls’ school in Santa Fe to be built. The Loretto Chapel was completed and consecrated in 1878.  The design was Gothic Revival building based on the style of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. The stone was from local sandstone.  The stained glass windows were imported from France and brought in on the Santa Fe Trail. It was impressive BUT everyone soon realized there was no access to the chapel’s choir loft.

Many carpenters came to look at the design and present solutions but all found that so much of the floor space would be taken up for a stairs that it was not reasonable. The only feasible way to reach the loft would be by ladder, which the nuns refused as being too inappropriate and hazardous to climb in their habits.

The turned to prayer that God would send a carpenter who would have a solution to the problem.  In the Catholic church a novena of nine consecutive days of prayer to a specific saint, they asked St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, for an answer.

On the ninth day, a man arrived with a donkey and a toolbox to offer his services. He requested complete privacy. Only asking for meals and occasionally tubs of hot water. For several months he worked alone in the chapel and one day came out and said he was finished then left without any payment.

The sisters were amazed to see the result.  A beautiful staircase with 33 steps—33 being the age at which Jesus was crucified—held together with only wooden pegs, no nails. No supports.  Even the wood it was made from was a mystery as it did not seem to come from anywhere in New Mexico.

Even to this day there are only rumors of who the man may have been.  The church believes that it was St. Joseph himself.

Originally, the staircase did not even have a railing but instead just an open flying helix design.  Many studies have been made of the staircase and some have come to "solutions" to the mystery but many could not. The staircase was closed to use after 1968 when the girls school closed and no longer used the chapel. After over 80 years of use it was determined that to preserve the structure it should no longer be used at least by tourists.

End history.

Shopping along the next few blocks then the Plaza.  More shopping. The Plaza dates back to the early 1600s when the are was settled by conquistadors.  It has been rebuilt many times but the history is very interesting.  By law only products made by and sold by  local New Mexico native tribal members can sell under at the plaza.

More shopping. Much of it just walking in and noticing how expensive things were.  Then walking out.
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​Back to the train station for Sopapillas and drinks at Tomasita’s. 


Our train ride back was nice and we were back to the RV before dark.​

Up, dressed and down to breakfast by 5:20am. Back to the RV to gather up cameras and water for the morning. We walked to the shuttle stop and waited quite a while. Weekdays there is only one bus for shuttles all others are taking children to school.

At the field, we find a much smaller crowd than the weekend. Balloons are rising over us as we walked down to the portion of the field. ​

We arrived on the field to see many balloons being filled for the next wave of launches.

​This is a special day that will be for a competition.  Prizes go to the success of each area of challenge.

They have boxes, Big X'es, and even an old pickup and rowboat. The pilots will try to fly over the field and drop a weighted strip of cloth as close as possible to the center of a marked area on in the back of the pickup or boat. It was amazing watching huge balloons moving many just 10 feet or less off the ground to hit their target with the “flag”. It was great. Everyone cheered or “Awed” depending on success or failure. Lots of fun.

There were many special shapes balloons. One team had a cyber truck as the tow vehicle.

We decided to check the stores along the outside of the field and even found a few things to buy.

Back to the RV to relax as there were no other planned events today. Maybe we will take a nap. Last night there was a train blowing over and over and over again. I found it very hard to get to sleep because just as I nodded off the train whistle would blow.

We smelled gasoline. I knew it had to be the generator or the gas can. Well, it was the generator. Something must have happened to the carburetor because the gas was dripping from that area. Shawna and I pulled it out in the open space where we could pour the gas from the generator to the gas can. After we emptied it, we strapped it back on the back platform. Well, no charging from the generator or running the AC. We can still charge with the set out panels.

There were so many and they were on almost every rock on the hillside.

​On the way back to the balloon park, we decided to stop for lunch at a brewery and then back to grab a shower and relax.  We had a nice meal and Shawna enjoyed her flight of beers.  Nothing was quite interesting enough for her to what to buy more.

Up by 4:30am and breakfast at 5am. Every morning we will be served breakfast of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, with alternating days of pancakes, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, etc. Tortillas to make grab and go burritos easy to make up. Also cereal and milk, coffee, tea and whatever Howard throws in as a surprise. We never leave hungry.

We got to the field before sunrise and walked between many balloons on the ground waiting to be filled. It was a chilly morning but standing near the  balloons it was warmer because of the burners.  The dawn patrol took off and lit up in the sky as the moved off to the south toward our RV.  We found out later that most of the balloons landed in the field directly north of our RV.  Everyone who stayed at the RVs said it was amazing.

For two hours, we watched balloons fill and fly.  Amazing!  This would never get old.   It is so fun to stand and talk with pilots and crew who are waiting for a Zebra to give them the signal that they could start the filling process in preparation for launch.

Back to the RV to relax. When we got off the bus many balloons were being folded and loaded right there near our rig. 

There were lots of new shapes and designs that we had not seen.  The number of balloons makes it easy to miss some with so many in the air at a time.  One line after another lifts off and each line can easily be more than a dozen balloons.

At 1 pm, we have a free concert for our group.

Dinner at 5pm.  We had ribs/brisket…  and a nice conversation with other couples about their travels.

Back to the RV to rest and prepare for tomorrow.

Todays "Planned" Schedule 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
5 AM Catered breakfast 
5:45 am Drone Light Show, sponsored by Sandia Resort & Casino
6:00 am Dawn Patrol Show, presented by Route 66 Casino
6:30 am Krispy Kreme Morning Glow (I am all in for this!)
7:00am Opening Ceremonies and Chile Flight -Formation Flight Team Fly-Over.
7:00am Mass Ascension
10 AM back at "camp" with a Catered dinner at 4 pm
5:00pm Team Skydiving
6:30pm Twilight Twinkle Glow
7:30pm Team Skydiving
7:45pm Drone Light Show
8:00pm Fireworks Show
9 PM back to camp to sleep.

After a restless night, we were woken frequently by helicopter training from the local military base, we got up at 4am.  Dressed by 4:30am and off to breakfast at 5am.

Everything at the balloon fiesta is early and late with nothing during mid day giving a time for a nap which we started looking forward to each day.

Breakfast was very good.  We walked back to the RV for a few minutes to gather our stuff (camera, water,..)  then to the shuttle stop.  They use school buses for transport.  We were in line just in time to see the dawn patrol fly overhead.

We were dropped off right at the gate and though there were hundreds in line it took only a few minutes to get inside.

The field is huge.  It is grass with some paved lanes in a grid pattern.  Kind of like a really big football field but 3000ft by 1200 feet.  Wow!

Lots of teams were already setting up but some were just arriving.

As we walked we were surrounded by chase teams with baskets and balloons in huge bags waiting for the pilot to return from the FAA meeting for approval to fly.  It was a bit windy and they do not fly if the ground wind is above a few miles per hour.  Imagine a balloon just light enough to float off the ground but not enough to go up dragging the several hundred pound basket through a crowd.  Not good.

They get approval and the American Anthem was played.  Everyone stopped and silenced the crowd.  Patriots attend this event. At the end of the Anthem, everyone cheered and the pilots lit off their burners.  Impressive!

Then just as the anthem ended ALL the baskets burners lit off for a long burn and 9 fixed wing aircraft flew in formation over the field.  Amazing! 

A team of planes flew over as part of the opening ceremony.

Soon after that the balloons started to fill.

For the next 2 hours we saw line after line of balloons rise into the air preceded by the “zebras” (safety officers)  blowing whistles and moving back the people near each as it started to rise.  A big cheer of support was heard as each took off. The Rainbow Ryders Company offers rides for a fee. They have large baskets that can carry 8 people up for a ride during the fiesta.​

I was not kidding about being right in the action.

By 9:30 am, the last had flown.  Any remaining were deflated because the wind had increased. I was not safe to lift off and fly.

Lots of very pretty balloons.  Some funny and amazing shapes.  Darth Vader, pigs, elephants, birds, wolf, fox, penguin, frog, cement truck, …   and this was not even the special shapes day where all the balloons will be unusual.

We headed back and as we got on the bus I looked back to the field.  It was almost empty.  All the balloons were packed away.  Any that flew were quite a way to the north landed in a field out there.

Time to rest through the day and get ready for the evening events.

Dinner at our Escapee group tent at 4:30pm and then we planned to be off to see more balloons, fireworks, drone show and a skydiving team.  That did not happen the wind picked up and that means no balloons or drone show at least.  Maybe tomorrow night will be better.  Instead we talked to people at dinner which was hamburgers, hot dogs,... One couple was from Canada and the husband worked for Westinghouse.  Shawna had a long conversation about Tommy and his work with him.

Tired but happy we are early to bed so we can be up at 4:30 am and to breakfast by 5am.  We are hoping for very little wind in the morning.