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The VLA got its name because it is an array of radio telescopes and it is very large. In its very early conceptual and planning stages, "Very Large Array" was a working title, probably not intended to be the final name for the facility. However, after a few years, the name stuck. At the VLA, all of its 27 dish antennas work together as a single instrument. The signals from all antennas are brought together in real time through a microwave communication system that uses buried waveguide. As radio astronomers sought to increase their resolving power, or ability to see fine detail, by separating their antennas by even greater distances, it became impractical to bring the signals together in real time. Instead, tape recorders and precise atomic clocks were installed at each antenna, and the signals are combined after the observation is completed. This technique is called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). When astronomers wanted to build a continent-wide radio telescope system to implement this technique, the name Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) was the natural working title. Again, it stuck.
I saw Contact. Was it filmed at the VLA? Where is the canyon I saw in that movie?
Many scenes in Contact were filmed at the VLA in September of 1996. About 200 filmmakers, including stars Jodie Foster, Tom Skerritt and James Woods, came to the VLA for the filming. The beautiful canyon seen near the VLA in the movie, however, actually is Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, "moved" to New Mexico by the magic of Hollywood special effects!