Chile’s President Pinera, ESO Director General De Zeeuw and ALMA Director De Graauw stand on a special vehicle during the ALMA project inauguration

Chile’s President Pinera, ESO Director General De Zeeuw and ALMA Director De Graauw stand on a special vehicle during the ALMA project inauguration

Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera (2nd L), European Southern Observatory (ESO) Director General Tim de Zeeuw (L) and Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimetre Array (ALMA) Director Thijs de Graauw (4th L) stand on a special vehicle as it loads a parabolic antenna during the ALMA project inauguration, some 1,730 km (1,074 miles) north of Santiago March 13, 2013. ALMA was inaugurated on Wednesday and is being constructed by the ESO with its partners, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). ALMA will have 66 high precision antennas which will work together as a single giant telescope to study the universe, molecular gas, dust of stars, galaxies and planetary systems, ESO said. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE – Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS)