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ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× photos by Sierra Coley

The seven-story C. T. Elvey Building, built in 1970, is home to the and contains office and lab spaces.

The blue satellite-tracking antenna, with a diameter of 29.5 feet, was hoisted atop the building in March 2017, replacing one from 1987. It and two 11-meter antennas in nearby woods receive synthetic aperture radar data from polar-orbiting satellites. ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× operates the Alaska Satellite Facility for NASA. A weather and gamma radiation monitor also sits atop Elvey, and another is in the hills nearby. They gather data for ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ×, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Christian T. Elvey was managing director of the Geophysical Institute from 1952-1963 and was the university's first vice president for research and advanced study from 1961-1963. Upon his retirement in 1967, he was granted professor emeritus status. In 1970, Elvey joined the elite names in the history of world science when a crater near the north pole of the moon was named in his honor.

Guided tour: Geophysical Institute