Transport and infrastructures

Transportation

Malargüe is linked to the north of Mendoza by National Route 40

National Route 40 (Argentina)

National Route 40 or RN40, often called Ruta 40 even in English texts, is a route in western Argentina, stretching from Cabo Virgenes in Santa Cruz Province in the south to La Quiaca in Jujuy Province in the north, running parallel to the Andes mountains...

. This route continues south, entering Neuquén Province

Neuquén Province

Neuquén is a province of Argentina, located in the west of the country, at the northern end of Patagonia. It borders Mendoza Province to the north, Rio Negro Province to the southeast, and Chile to the west...

, but is only partially built and not well maintained beyond Malargüe City.

Air traffic in the area (only local flights) is served by the Comodoro D. Ricardo Salomón Airport .

Astronomic and space center

Malargüe is also home to the southern site of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is an international cosmic ray observatory designed to detect ultra-high-energy cosmic rays: single sub-atomic particles with energies beyond 1020 eV...

, an international physics experiment searching for ultra-high energy cosmic rays

Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin limit

The Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit is a theoretical upper limit on the energy of cosmic rays coming from "distant" sources. The limit is 5×1019 eV, or about 8 joules. The limit is set by slowing-interactions of cosmic ray protons with the microwave background radiation over long distances...

.

The European Space Agency

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

 began construction of a deep space ground station 30 km south of Malargüe in 2010. Once operational by mid 2012 Malargüe Station

Malargüe Station

Malargüe Station is a 35-metre ESTRACK radio antenna currently under construction in Argentina. It is being built for the European Space Agency for communication with spacecraft in deep space. It is located south of the town of Malargüe, Argentina...

 will be the third 35m dish in its ESTRACK

ESTRACK

The European Space Operations Centre operates a number of ground-based space-tracking stations for the European Space Agency known as the European Space Tracking network. The stations support various ESA spacecraft and facilitate communications between ground operators and scientific probes such...

network.

External links

• Municipality of Malargüe — Official website.
• Pierre Auger Observatory.