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National Radio Astronomy Observatory
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Dave Finley, Public Information Officer
Oct. 31 - Nov. 2: Call Betty Trujillo
VLA Will Host "Flag Across America"
Photo/Video Opportunity Features The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) will host the runners and support personnel of the "Americans United Flag Across America" run as the transcontinental memorial and fundraising effort comes through New Mexico. The flag run will come to NRAO's Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope west of Socorro, NM, late on the night of Sunday, November 4, and depart the following morning en route to the Arizona border. The run began Oct. 11, one month after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Organized by employees of American and United Airlines to honor the flight crews lost in those attacks, to show support for U.S. troops and to raise funds to help the victims' families, the run will take an American flag from Boston Logan Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. The Boston-to-Los Angeles trip represents the intended journey of American Flight 11 and United Flight 175, both of which were crashed by terrorists into the World Trade Center. The nonstop run will arrive at the VLA shortly before midnight on Nov. 4. Drivers, runners and support personnel will stay overnight at the VLA. During the night, a "VLA Night Owl Run" will keep the flag moving around the VLA area until the westward trek resumes on the morning of Nov. 5. After sunrise on Nov. 5, runners will carry the flag alongside the giant, 230-ton dish antennas of the VLA for a spectacular and picturesque start to the expedition's final 24 hours in New Mexico. The VLA is a world-famous scientific facility and became a familiar sight to millions of movie fans who saw the 1997 Warner Brothers feature "Contact," starring Jodie Foster. "Our observatory is proud to host this group and honored that they will bring this flag through our facility," said Miller Goss, NRAO's director of VLA operations. The runners are carrying a flag that flew in a U.S. F-16 over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch on Oct. 2, and has visited Ground Zero in Manhattan. The flag is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. THE RUN ALONGSIDE THE VLA ANTENNAS will start between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. on Monday, November 5. To ensure being in place for this event, photographers and videographers should arrive at the VLA no later than 6:00 a.m. The VLA is 50 miles west of Socorro on U.S. Highway 60. For detailed directions, see the NRAO Web site, at: http://www.nrao.edu/tourist/visit.html Dave Finley, NRAO Public Information Officer, will be at the VLA Nov. 4-5. Please ask for him upon arrival. For more information about Americans United Flag Across America, see: The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
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