Mesa Lab - 1967
The Mesa Laboratory was dedicated in May 1967. This photo display highlights the Mesa Lab’s first official year as NCAR’s headquarters.
Residents were invited to three open houses in 1967 to tour the new lab and learn about the science taking place inside. Roberts also set aside funds for a community art program and public exhibits. In this photo, engineer Raymond Chu demonstrates dropsonde technology to visitors during one of the open houses (learn more about dropsondes right outside the library!)
In addition to office and laboratory space, the Mesa Laboratory was designed to accommodate a major computing facility. The first computer housed at the Mesa Lab was the Control Data Corporation (CDC) 6600 computer. Pictured here is the mass storage system that accompanied the computer.
The CDC 6600 was the fastest computer available for purchase when NCAR acquired it. This is a view of the Computing Facility as seen from outside after dark.