[evlatests] You know it's going to be a Bad Day at the VLA when...

[Robert Hayward]

You know it's going to be a Bad Day at the VLA for maintenance crews when
the antennas are being attacked by A10 Warthog aircraft and ground assault
troops.

Check out the attached picture before reading further...




Is this an example of how the federal government disposes of its unwanted
property when it becomes too costly to run during an economic recession?

Nope. Turns out this is a screen shot from the trailer for the next
Terminator movie. It's not obvious what the nasty machines from Skynet
have against radio observatories, but it looks like it's the VLA's turn to
see its telescopes destroyed (the Owens Valley 140 ft was imploded by
aliens in "The Arrival" and Arecibo was blown up by James Bond in "Golden
Eye").

It's not entirely obvious whether the telescope wrecked on the right is a
VLA or an EVLA antenna. The L-Band feed does appear to be in the wrong
position - it should be at the bottom of the vertex structure. Perhaps the
people doing the CGI destruction know that our antennas have an "over the
top" capability. It's nice to know, however, that the tetrapod is robust
enough to survive a severe collision with the ground.

We won't know how many antennas will be destroyed until the movie's
release in May 2009. Maybe we will just lose some of the 45 new dishes we
got to build in the movie "Contact". Easy come, easy go.

If you want, you can see the entire trailer at...

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi360907545/

The VLA scene occurs about quarter of the way in and lasts only a few
seconds.

-Bob
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