When I was a child, we had a large painted board outside our tyre shop in Layyah, Pakistan,” says Kamran Ali, otherwise also known as ‘Kamran on Bike’ owing to his penchant for travelling across the world on his bicycle. “It was a painting of a lonely country house with snowcapped mountains and a sky full of stars.” There was a small boy in the painting who was gazing at the stars. A verse by Allama Iqbal was painted over the top: Mohabbat mujhay un jawanon se hai, sitaron pe jo daltay hain kamand. [I love the youth that aim for the stars].

Much like the boy in the photo, Kamran would often stare at this painting during his visits to the shop, unaware that a few decades later he would find himself exploring the Alma observatory in Northern Chile — one of the most ambitious astronomy projects in the world.

What: The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (Alma) is an astronomical interferometer (a group of telescopes, radio telescope antennas and mirror segments that collectively work as one telescope that provides a higher resolution) otherwise also known as “the world’s most powerful observatory” for studying the universe. It’s designed to spot some of the most distant, ancient galaxies and to observe areas around young stars for the birth of new planets.

The project is a collaboration between four continents, sponsored by countries in Europe, East Asia, North America and, of course, Chile. The construction took more than 10 years and the involvement of thousands of scientists and engineers and cost around 1.3 billion dollars.

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (Alma) is the world’s most powerful observatory for studying the universe. It’s designed to spot the most distant, ancient galaxies and areas around young stars for the birth of new planets.

Where: It’s perched on the Chajnantor Plateau in Atacama Desert, Northern Chile, South America. It is located at an altitude of 5,050m (16,570feet) above sea level, above much of the Earth’s atmosphere, minimizing the chances of blurs and distortion of light. The Atacama desert is one of the driest places in the world which means the night sky is clear of clouds and moisture.

Kamran Ali crossed the Atacama Desert on his way from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Alaska. “Chile has a thriving scientific community and has offered its land to many international observatories,” relates Kamran, “I first made a visit to the Paranal Observatory and later applied for a media visit to Alma.” Only three visits are approved per month and luckily, Kamran’s request was approved within a couple of days.

Ditching his bicycle, he rented a 4X4 vehicle and set off for Alma early that morning. Once he crossed the gate, he noticed that the road leading to the Operation Support Facility (at 2,900m) was steep and unpaved. Over there he was required to undergo a medical examination — it’s no joke to simply climb to an altitude of 5,000m where there is barely any oxygen without proper acclimation. Kamran was soon declared fit to go to Alma.

The only problem was that his guide was missing. After a few minutes he got a call from him. The guide, Danilo, had been looking for Kamran for over an hour. He had been looking for a Pakistani man on a bicycle and couldn’t find him anywhere!

We may still be a long way from interstellar travel, but recently, Kamran Ali got quite a view of the stars when he boldly went where no Pakistani has gone before: the Alma Observatory — one of the most ambitious astronomy projects in the world

“I didn’t know I couldn’t enter Alma by bicycle, otherwise I would have!” laughed Kamran. “Let’s go to the antenna site first because the weather up there can get worse any time,” said Danilo. While travelling, Danilo was careful to report their location regularly via radio.

After around 40 minutes they arrived at the Area Operation Site (AOS). The Chajnantor Plateau has a lunar landscape. “The 66 giant dish antennas appear minuscule in the vast emptiness,” says Kamran. “Danilo drove me through the antennas, where I took a few photos. Then we went up to a higher point which provided a panoramic view of the antennas.” They stepped out of the car to take photos but, at that altitude, temperatures had dipped and it was bitterly cold. “A strong cold wind blew and penetrated through thick layers of my clothing into my skin,” he says. Kamran was freezing. He added that “We rushed back to the heated glass-walled building at the site, where I was given hot coffee and biscuits.”

Kamran ended up spending around six hours at Alma where Danilo explained, in meticulous detail, the workings of the largest observatory on Earth. Not only that, but they had lunch at the cafeteria where Kamran got the chance to interact with other astronomers.

As they parted ways, Danilo mentioned to Kamran that he was the first Pakistani to visit Alma. “It was a privilege,” said Kamran, visibly excited by the experience. Hopefully, he won’t be the last.

Published in Dawn, EOS, February 26th, 2017