Mammoth 3-ton Digital Camera Delivers on Decade-long Development for Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The 3-ton digital camera for the future Vera C. Rubin Observatory has finally arrived at its destination in Chile. After a two-decade development process, this camera is the last major part of the Simonyi Survey Telescope that will be installed at the observatory on top of Cerro Pachón mountain.

Scientists and engineers carried out a simulation in 2021 to test the safe transportation of the camera from its manufacturing site at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California to its mountaintop location in Chile. This simulation involved shipping a similar-sized replica to Chile and confirmed that the process would be successful.

The camera made a 10-hour flight from San Francisco airport to Chile on a Boeing 747 cargo plane and then traveled by nine trucks through winding dirt roads to the Cerro Pachón station. The journey took five hours, with the final destination being more than 2,700 meters above sea level on top of Cerro Pachón mountain. Despite the challenging terrain, the camera arrived safely at the observatory after passing thorough testing.

The successful arrival of the camera marks an important milestone for scientists and engineers working on this project, as well as for astronomers eagerly awaiting the observatory’s operation, which is expected to begin late next year. The Rubin Observatory will conduct a decade-long study of the universe by taking panoramic images of the southern sky every few evenings, contributing to the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Through this survey, astronomers hope to gather clues about dark matter, dark energy, weak gravitational lensing, and other cosmic phenomena.

This achievement is no small feat considering it was transported over 5 miles high up into thin air with minimal disruption or damage caused during transit.

In conclusion, transporting such a large and heavy instrument across vast distances is an impressive accomplishment for scientists and engineers alike. With this final piece now installed at Cerro Pachón mountain in Chile, we are one step closer to unlocking new insights about our universe through research conducted by the Rubin Observatory.