Welcome to the SLAC Virtual Tour

Welcome to SLAC’s Virtual Tour Center. On this self-paced tour, you can explore some of our facilities and learn about our exciting research. Follow the links on this page or launch the interactive tour for a more immersive experience.

We have built this virtual platform around the locations featured on our in-person public tours, which are currently on pause due to COVID-19. We will be adding more facilities and SLAC sciences as we continue to develop the virtual tour program, so please check back for updates.

Launch Interactive Tour

SLAC from the Sky

Spread across 426 acres, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory’s campus boasts an array of distinctive and historic buildings, headlined by the 2-mile-long klystron gallery, the building that sits on top of the longest linear particle accelerator in the world. This video, shot using cameras on remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicles, gives an overview of the lab and the science being done inside its various facilities.

Photo Gallery

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The accelerator took four years to build (1962-1966) and was nicknamed “Project M” for monster. Construction of Interstate 280 was a few years away, but SLAC was able to make arrangements with the State of California to complete this particular overpass ahead of schedule, so that the driving of heavy piles deep into the earth on either side of the klystron gallery would not interfere with the delicately balanced alignment of the linac. It was known as the “bridge to nowhere.”

Click on an image to view the enlarged version.