AMEC telescope lands safely

A gondola designed and built by AMEC’s Dynamic Structures division in B.C. successfully carried a giant telescope down to earth on Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic.<br>
The BLAST telescope landed successfully at 2.15 a.m. on June 16 after being brought down to earth in its parachute gondola from 25 miles above the Earth. AMEC designed and made the telescope as well as its re-usable gondola and directional sighting system.<br>
BLAST stands for Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope. It was launched in northern Sweden and scheduled to fly for nine days. However, it was brought to earth 4 days after take off due to winds carrying it on a northern flight path.<br>
It took 45 minutes for the BLAST telescope to reach the ground. The telescope is the size of a 33 storey building and has delicate scientific instruments designed to gather data on the origins of the universe.<br>
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