La Posta Astro-Geophysical Observatory

The La Posta Astro-Geophysical Observatory was built at Point Loma in 1964 by the Naval Electronics Laboratory. The site was built at a 3,900 foot (1,200 meter) altitude site in the Laguna Mountains, 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of San Diego.

History

The observatory played a major role in solar radio mapping, studies of environmental disturbances, and development of a solar optical videometer for microwave research.

Its 60-foot dish, which could both transmit and receive, was used for important research programs in propagation and ionospheric forecasting which were used during a number of Apollo space launches to predict solar activity that might hamper communications from the ground to the space capsules.