Looking for the origins of the universe in one of Earth's least habitable places (photos)

Some of the ALMA antennas at the Operations Support Facility (OSF), the outpost built for the scientists working at ALMA. More on ALMA here . (H. Sommer/ALMA, ESO/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) /National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO))

A view from inside the OSF building. To the left, the two American ALMA antennas; through the right window, the Japanese antenna. Read about ALMA here . (ALMA, ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) 

The Milky Way stretches out over four antennas of ALMA, described in this article . (ESO Photo Ambassador José Francisco Salgado/ESO)

ALMA 12-meter antennas at 16,500 ft. altitude. Read more about the project here . (Image courtesy of NARO/Associated Universities, Inc. and NRAO/AUI/National Science Foundation, Carlos Padilla acknowledgement/General Dynamics C4 Systems)

The OSF, where ALMA personnel live; elevation, 9,000 feet. More about ALMA here . (Image courtesy of NARO/AUI)

One of the ALMA antennas, with two more in the background, on the Chajnantor plain of the Chilean Andes. Read about ALMA in this story . (Iztok Bončina/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO))

Artist's conception of the ALMA antennas in a compact array. This story has more information on ALMA. (Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI and ESO)

Aerial view of ALMA's OSF, located at 2900 metres altitude, on the road to Chajnantor — partially visible near the top-right edge of the picture. On the right, the partners’ antenna integration sites are seen — from the bottom to the top are the North American, the Japanese and the European sites. At the centre of the picture is the main OSF building, while on the left the workers’ camps are visible. (See story.)
ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), W. Garnier (ALMA). Acknowledgment: General Dynamics C4 Systems