Moving a VLA antenna (image 1 of 2). Technicians prepare to move a dish antenna which makes up the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope near Socorro, New Mexico, USA. A transporter (red) is moved under the antenna to lift it up and move it along a parallel set of railroad tracks. It takes about 2 hours to move an antenna from one station to another. The VLA is the world's largest radio telescope array, consisting of 27 dish antennae like this, each 25 metres in diameter. The antenna weighs 235 tonnes. It can be moved to various positions along a Y-shaped railway network. Data from all the dishes can be combined to produce a single radio image. Also see photo R164/168.