More desert

As we headed north from Big Bend toward New Mexico we came upon the Air Force tethered air balloon which is actually quite enormous. These can be used for space environmental measurements but they are also used for surveillance, like drug interdiction and for things like projecting Radio Marti to Cuba.
This isn't a good picture but I had climbed a small hill island in the lava flow and there was the distant indication of Trinity, where the first above ground nuclear test was conducted, next to White Sands, where the military still conducts top secret testing. All the suffering, expense and pollution of the nuclear age birthed here in the desert. Here in poor New Mexico, prisoner of resource extraction and waste disposal. Two million people and many old cultures trying to protect the land and their histories.
Lastly, I wanted to share the Very Large Array, an aging Y shaped array of 27 satellite dishes that act like a single antenna to study stars, planets, galaxies, black holes from the desert west of Socorro, New Mexico. I was amazed to come upon it as I had loved the movie Contact.
We went through Roswell, NM (looking for veggie oil) which has a good sense of humor about its UFO link but this is part of real scientific outreach and I thought you might like to see it.
Enjoy the full moon from where you are, in peace.