The logo of the Black Mesa Research Facility, depicting a mesa mountain against the sky

The Black Mesa Research Facility (also referred to as simply Black Mesa in the games) is a fictional complex located in the desert of New Mexico, United States, and is the setting for most of the events of the computer game Half-Life and its expansions. Image File history File links Hl_bmlogo. ... Image File history File links Hl_bmlogo. ... FicTioNaL is a Gaming Legend. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ...

Research and facilities

The Black Mesa facility is built over several decommissioned missile silo complexes constructed during the 1950s, which have been converted into a vast civilian institute for the research of every conceivable scientific discipline. Much of the work undertaken at the facility involves fairly standard scientific research, such as radiation, rocketry, theoretical physics, lasers, experimental propulsion, hydraulics, robotics, hydroelectricity, genetics, applied mathematics and a very wide spectrum of research into chemistry and all manner of physics research. Research at the facility includes both pure research and applied science. The facility also serves as a base for decommissioning nuclear weapons. In addition to this legitimate research, several secret projects are also carried out at Black Mesa, which are deliberately left vague. A large amount of classified research is carried out, including the development of high-tech weapons and defense systems, research into extra-dimensional travel, teleportation, and the study of Xen. During the tram ride that opens Half-Life, an announcement on the public address system states that the facility is seeking employees with backgrounds in theoretical physics, biotechnology, and various other high-tech scientific disciplines. It is also said that jobs in low-clearance security and materials handling are available. Black Mesa, as the same announcement states, is an equal opportunity employer. A missile silo is a underground vertical cylindrical container for the storage and launching of ICBMs. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Radiation can refer to one of the following: Look up radiation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics, as opposed to experimental processes, in an attempt to understand nature. ... Experiment with a laser (US Military) In physics, a laser is a device that emits light through a specific mechanism for which the term laser is an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. ... A remote camera captures a close-up view of a Space Shuttle Main Engine during a test firing at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to change the velocity of spacecraft and artificial satellites. ... Hydraulics is a branch of science and engineering concerned with the use of liquids to perform mechanical tasks. ... Robotics is the science and technology of robots, their design, manufacture, and application. ... Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. ... This article is about the general scientific term. ... Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the mathematical techniques typically used in the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... This is a discussion of a present category of science. ... Research is an active, diligent and systematic process of inquiry in order to discover, interpret or revise facts, events, behaviours, or theories, or to make practical applications with the help of such facts, laws or theories. ... For the song by 311, see Grassroots Applied science is the exact science of applying knowledge from one or more natural scientific fields to practical problems. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... It has been suggested that Information sensitivity be merged into this article or section. ... 2-dimensional renderings (ie. ... Teleportation is the movement of objects or elementary particles from one place to another, more or less instantaneously, without traveling through space. ... Islands in Xen Xen (pronounced Zen) is the origin of the alien species that appear in the science fiction video game Half-Life (Valve Software, 1998); the expansion packs Half-Life: Opposing Force (Valve Software and Gearbox Software, 1999); Half-Life: Blue Shift (Valve/Gearbox, 2001); and Half-Life: Decay... This article refers to public transport vehicles running on rails. ... Theoretical physics employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics, as opposed to experimental processes, in an attempt to understand nature. ... The structure of insulin Biological technology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Equal opportunity is a descriptive term for an approach intended to provide a certain social environment in which people are not excluded from the activities of society, such as education, employment, or health care, on the basis of immutable traits. ...

The opening sequences of Half-Life and its expansions (Blue Shift and Opposing Force) reveal much about the facility. Apart from hinting at the enormous size of Black Mesa, it is revealed that the facility is very high-security, as each employee is required to undergo a series of rigorous security checks as they travel around the complex. Black Mesa is dominated by a bewildering number of laboratories, test areas, and administration offices. These, along with cavernous storage facilities, take up most of the underground areas of the complex. Despite being located in the middle of a desert, the underground and indoor sectors of Black Mesa are maintained at 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) at all times, enabled by Black Mesa's sprawling network of ventilation ducts. Half-Life For a quantity subject to exponential decay, the half-life is the time required for the quantity to fall to half of its initial value. ... This article is about the temperature scale; see also Fahrenheit graphics API. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), who proposed it in 1724. ... The degree Celsius (°C) is a unit of temperature named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who first proposed it in 1742. ...

A food court seen by Barney Calhoun from Black Mesa's transit system

As employees are required to live in the complex itself, Black Mesa contains many personnel facilities, including laundromats, recreation and sports areas such as lounges, basketball courts, swimming pools, a video rental outlet (as seen in Blue Shift), fast food outlets, food courts, cafeterias, and at least one bar serving alcoholic beverages. The facility is well-populated by vending machines and rest areas for the employees of the facility. As Dr. Eli Vance reveals in Half-Life 2, his wife also worked in the facility, and their baby daughter lived there with them, it can be inferred that employees' family members who are not working in the facility are allowed to reside in the dormitory complexes as well in certain cases. The complex may also have its own newspaper, The Mesa Times, although this may be an outside publication. The Blue Shift manual reveals further details about the facility. Barney Calhoun's duty rotation is printed in French, suggesting that the facility recruits international personnel. Included in Calhoun's papers are several pages describing bizarre animals, claiming that the facility houses strange specimens from across the globe (they are, in fact, creatures from Xen). A point of interest is that the same pages describe how, in the event of an emergency, security officers are required to co-operate with military personnel from the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, suggesting that Black Mesa has experienced problems with escaped specimens in the past. Possibly to deal with potential escaped specimens, or perhaps as a leftover from the facility's days as a military missile complex, Black Mesa contains many automated machine-gun turrets, which, when activated, will emerge from armoured cupolas and fire upon any moving object in their line of sight. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 123 KB) Summary An open-area food court in the Black Mesa Facility. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 123 KB) Summary An open-area food court in the Black Mesa Facility. ... Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Cigarette vending machine. ... Half-Life 2 (HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ... Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ... Islands in Xen Xen (pronounced Zen) is the origin of the alien species that appear in the science fiction video game Half-Life (Valve Software, 1998); the expansion packs Half-Life: Opposing Force (Valve Software and Gearbox Software, 1999); Half-Life: Blue Shift (Valve/Gearbox, 2001); and Half-Life: Decay... A fire team of four Hazardous Environment Combat Unit troops in Half-Life (non-High Definition Pack models). ...

Black Mesa's motto, as seen in the Blue Shift manual, is: Working to build a better tomorrow for all mankind.

Size

One of Black Mesa's modern electric trams

The physical range of the facility is, from an in-game perspective, nothing short of massive, large enough that the surface area is divided into seven lettered sectors and upwards of nine numbered areas. Most of the facility is located underground, where vast concrete-lined caverns and old ICBM silos are linked by a network of electric trams. Black Mesa is apparently self-sufficient, housing its own ventilation, plumbing, sewerage, and power generation systems including a hydroelectric dam and multiple types of electrical generators and reactors. The facility is filled with all kinds of laboratories and testing areas, most of which contain very high-tech equipment. The complex also features multi-storey car parks (complete with Black Mesa four-wheel drive SUVs), arsenals of nuclear and conventional weapons, a local electric rail materials transport network, laboratories housing the latest equipment for every conceivable high-tech scientific discipline (including a powerful anti-mass spectrometer), and even its own rocket launch site. Black Mesa is kept supplied by a freight rail link to the rest of New Mexico. It can be inferred that the facility is relatively old considering that some areas are described by in-game characters as "old" or "abandoned." Several areas of the complex are badly run-down despite the obvious fact that they are still in use. The surface areas of Black Mesa feature more modern construction. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 181 KB) Summary Inside a new Black Mesa Research Facility tram car, en route to Sector C Test Labs, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 181 KB) Summary Inside a new Black Mesa Research Facility tram car, en route to Sector C Test Labs, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... Hydroelectricity is electricity produced by hydropower. ... “Parking garage” redirects here. ... A sport utility vehicle (SUV) or off-roader is a vehicle that combines the load-hauling and passenger-carrying capacity of a large station wagon or minivan with features designed for off-road driving. ... Mass spectrometry is a technique for separating ions by their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios. ... Capital Santa Fe Largest city Albuquerque Area  Ranked 5th  - Total 121,665 sq mi (315,194 km²)  - Width 342 miles (550 km)  - Length 370 miles (595 km)  - % water 0. ...

Black Mesa Personnel

Several members of the Science Team in a modern laboratory (Blue Shift).

The Black Mesa Research Facility is populated by two main groups of civilian employees: science personnel and security personnel, along with various other inhabitants including administrative personnel, service personnel and occasionally the employees' families (as stated by Dr. Eli Vance in Half-Life 2). The base also keeps a small military presence. All facility personnel wear identity badges, and the automated tram announcement at the beginning of Half-Life reminds staff that they must display their badges at all times, as well as that "regular radiation and biohazard screenings are a requirement of continued employment in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Missing a scheduled urinalysis or radiation check-up is grounds for immediate termination." The following are the main types of personnel employed in the facility. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 99 KB) Summary One of Black Mesas many laboratories. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 99 KB) Summary One of Black Mesas many laboratories. ... Half-Life 2 (HL2) is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game that is the sequel to Half-Life. ...

Security Personnel

Security personnel (a.k.a. security guards) are the main component of Black Mesa's support personnel force. Each guard is granted a different security clearance specific to his or her duty, with an average clearance of Level 3. The security guard uniform consists of a blue shirt, black tie, dark blue pants, black combat boots, equipment belt, armor vest and helmet. The standard sidearm issued to security staff is the GLOCK 17 pistol (or the Beretta, with the High Definition Pack installed), but it seems that Franchi SPAS-12 shotguns, .357 Colt Python revolvers and Desert Eagle pistols, and fragmentation grenades are also available to them. Otis, the obese security guard in Opposing Force, carries a Desert Eagle pistol. A comparison of the many zombie model incarnations throughout Half-Life. ...

• Security Officer - The vast majority of guards work as security officers, tasked with protecting secured areas and information, reporting breaches of authority to their administrative sponsor and helping with general maintenance tasks. In rare cases, security officers will be tasked with capturing escaped research specimens.
• Section Manager - The role of section manager is effectively a desk job that consists of directing security officers and assigning tasks.
• Instructor - Security officers will often take on additional work instructing new recruits in the Sector A Training Facility. According to the PlayStation 2 game manual, the name of one instructor is "Miller", although Barney Calhoun is also named as a potential substitute for Otis's training.

Science Personnel

Science Personnel (a.k.a. the Science Team), recruited largely from academic backgrounds, are the overwhelming majority of Black Mesa's population. Each scientist is granted a different security clearance specific to his or her duty, with an average clearance of Level 5. Like other employees, scientists have an assigned uniform, consisting of a blue shirt, white labcoat, red striped tie and white (or beige) slacks. Many scientists are trained in the use of the MP5N submachine gun as part of HEV suit training, but those in research and development have little or no knowledge of combat. Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. ... Half-Life 2 concept art of Gordon Freeman holding a crowbar Dr. Gordon Freeman is the fictional protagonist of the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games. ...

• Research and Development - The largest portion of the scientists are assigned to research and development positions, where they conduct experiments and create new technologies. The research conducted ranges in focus from particle physics to biological study to space travel. Most research and development scientists have a limited knowledge of first aid, and can heal some wounds. Dr. Isaac Kleiner and Dr. Eli Vance were prominent research and development scientists.
• Research Associate - Research Associates work alongside research and development scientists, but with a lower status in the employment hierarchy. They are usually required to conduct the more mundane or less desirable portions of a given experiment. Dr. Gordon Freeman and Dr. Colette Green were notable research associates.
• Hazardous Environment Supervisor - Supervisors act in a similar role to research associates in that they assist in experiments, but they are primarily concerned with maintaining a safe work environment. Dr. Gina Cross worked in this position.
• Instructor - Scientists will often take on additional work training employees and conducting simulations in the Sector A Training Facility.
• Survey Team - Survey teams were organized soon after the first teleportation labs were constructed in Black Mesa. Their assignment is the most dangerous, as they are tasked with entering Xen to collect samples and conduct experiments. Because of the danger, survey team members are highly trained in the use of the HEV suit and a variety of weapons.

Dr. Isaac Kleiner Dr. Isaac Kleiner is a fictional character from the computer games Half-Life and Half-Life 2. ... Dr. Eli Vance Dr. Eli Vance is a fictional character from the computer games Half-Life (1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004) by Valve Software. ... Half-Life 2 concept art of Gordon Freeman holding his signature weapon, the crowbar, and wearing the H.E.V. suit. ... Colette Green (left) along with Gina Cross (right). ... Gina seen as the holographic guide in Half-Lifes tutorial Hazard Course. ...

Other Personnel

• Administration Personnel - Serving the Office of the Administrator, administration personnel handle the bureaucracy for the facility, including recruiting civilians and assigning personnel.
• Service Personnel - Service Personnel are rarely seen in the Half-Life games, but can sometimes be spotted driving forklifts. They are also tasked with some more complicated maintenance tasks, such as repairing turrets. From a distance, they appear to be wearing green overalls and yellow helmets.

"The Black Mesa Incident"

The Anomalous Materials Analysis Test Chamber, shortly before the Resonance Cascade occurs

Main article: Black Mesa Incident

The events of the Black Mesa Incident are triggered by a seemingly routine experiment carried out by the Anomalous Materials team in Sector C, Test Chamber C-33/a. When research associate Gordon Freeman pushes a crystalline specimen into the beam of an over-charged anti-mass spectrometer, the experiment triggers a resonance cascade, which causes severe structural damage to the entire facility and severs communications with the outside world, and within much of the facility itself. At the same time, the resonance cascade causes dimensional seams to rip open, forcibly teleporting intelligent creatures and wildlife from the border world Xen into the Black Mesa facility. The confused creatures begin attacking the facility's personnel, causing chaos as Black Mesa's inhabitants hide or try to flee the facility by any means available. Soon after the resonance cascade, soldiers from the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU) appear in Black Mesa, under orders to cover up the incident by killing the Xenians and silencing the facility's civilian personnel. While the soldiers are at first successful, their advantages are gradually lost as they come under incessant attack by increasing numbers of Xen lifeforms, the Black Mesa Security Force, and Gordon Freeman. Helped by Black Mesa's surviving personnel and protected by his HEV suit, Freeman is able to fight his way across the facility, killing many members of the HECU and destroying a large amount of military hardware, including tanks, helicopters, automated sentry guns, and several dozen laser tripmines. As the Xen creatures gain ground in the facility and inflict increasing casualties on the military, the HECU begins a hasty and incomplete evacuation, removing the bulk of the HECU as highly-trained Black Ops appear, who begin executing abandoned HECU survivors and the few surviving members of Black Mesa's personnel. The Black Ops, though, sustain heavy casualties from the newly-arrived Race X creatures, and ultimately evacuate the facility. Throughout the earlier stages of the incident, several members of Black Mesa's science team, operating out of the relatively undamaged Lambda Complex, attempt to close the dimensional rifts between Black Mesa and Xen by launching a geo-stationary satellite into orbit. Ultimately, Dr. Freeman reaches the fortified Lambda Complex and, after bringing Black Mesa's nuclear reactor online, is teleported to Xen. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 118 KB) Summary The test chamber in the Black Mesa Research Facility. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 118 KB) Summary The test chamber in the Black Mesa Research Facility. ... The Black Mesa Incident is a key event appearing in the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. ... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Mass spectrometry is a technique for separating ions by their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratios. ... 2-dimensional renderings (ie. ... Teleportation is the movement of objects or elementary particles from one place to another, more or less instantaneously, without traveling through space. ... Islands in Xen Xen (pronounced Zen) is the origin of the alien species that appear in the science fiction video game Half-Life (Valve Software, 1998); the expansion packs Half-Life: Opposing Force (Valve Software and Gearbox Software, 1999); Half-Life: Blue Shift (Valve/Gearbox, 2001); and Half-Life: Decay... A fire team of four Hazardous Environment Combat Unit troops in Half-Life (non-High Definition Pack models). ... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Black Ops, sometimes hyphenated to Black-Ops,[1] are a fictitious commando group briefly seen in the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life and later expanded upon and featured in its expansion pack Half-Life: Opposing Force. ... Race X is a hostile alien race featured in the computer game series Half-Life by Valve Software. ... For other uses, see Satellite (disambiguation). ...

Weapons Research Complex Lobby under HECU control

The Black Mesa facility itself is badly damaged during the resonance cascade and the resulting Xen invasion, and sustains severe damage during the military occupation. Although the ultimate fate of Black Mesa is unknown, it appears that most of the facility is destroyed by a nuclear device planted deep in the facility by the Black Ops at the end of Half-Life: Opposing Force. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 178 KB) Summary The entrance lobby of the Sector E Biodome Complex at the Black Mesa Research Facility, guarded by several soldiers of the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 178 KB) Summary The entrance lobby of the Sector E Biodome Complex at the Black Mesa Research Facility, guarded by several soldiers of the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... The Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU) is a fictitious military force featured in the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life, and its expansions. ...

Whilst most of Black Mesa's personnel are killed in the facility itself, several members of the science team and security force survived the incident and escaped. Dr. Gordon Freeman is teleported to Xen by the Lambda team and does not return to Black Mesa, instead being employed by the mysterious G-Man and put into stasis. Dr. Wallace Breen, the facility's Administrator, escapes by unknown means. Dr. Isaac Kleiner, a member of the Lambda team, is able to escape as well as Dr. Eli Vance, a high-ranking member of both the Anomalous Materials team and the Lambda team, carrying with him his young daughter Alyx. Security officer Barney Calhoun escapes with Dr. Rosenberg, a high-ranking scientist related to the original teleportation project, and two other scientists (Walter Bennett and Simmons) in a Black Mesa SUV relatively early in the Incident after teleporting outside of Black Mesa using an old prototype teleporter. Corporal Adrian Shephard, a soldier in the HECU, defeats a large Race X alien and is subsequently allowed to live, but also detained for the sake of secrecy, by the G-Man. In Half-Life 2: Episode Two it will be revealed that another member of the Anomalous Materials team, Dr. Magnusson, also manages to escape the facility. It remains unknown if any other personnel escaped Black Mesa, or if any of the more heavily built or underground areas survived the atomic blast. Gordon Freeman, Ph. ... Islands in Xen Xen (pronounced Zen) is the origin of the alien species that appear in the science fiction video game Half-Life (Valve Software, 1998); the expansion packs Half-Life: Opposing Force (Valve Software and Gearbox Software, 1999); Half-Life: Blue Shift (Valve/Gearbox, 2001); and Half-Life: Decay... The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a recurring character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games. ... Dr. Wallace Breen Dr. Wallace Breen is a fictional character from the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games produced by Valve Software. ... Dr. Isaac Kleiner Dr. Isaac Kleiner is a fictional character from the computer games Half-Life and Half-Life 2. ... Dr. Eli Vance Dr. Eli Vance is a fictional character from the computer games Half-Life (1998) and Half-Life 2 (2004) by Valve Software. ... Alyx Vance is a fictional character and digital actor from Valves 2004 First Person Shooter computer game Half-Life 2, and its following episode: Half-Life 2: Episode One. ... Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ... Doctor Rosenberg, as seen in Blue Shift. ... Corporal Adrian Shephard is the player character and silent protagonist in Half-Life: Opposing Force, the first expansion pack, by Gearbox Software, for the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. ... The G-Man, voiced by Michael Shapiro, is a recurring character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games. ...

It is unclear whether or not the actions of the Lambda team, in particular their launching of the satellite, actually helped to close the dimensional rifts. After the launch of the satellite they theorise that forces on the other side of the portals are keeping them open.

Key Locations

Black Mesa contains a vast and complicated array of laboratories, storage areas, personnel facilities, and abandoned areas. The various facilities in Black Mesa are loosely grouped into seven Sectors:

Sector A Training Facility

Encountered in all four of the Half-Life 1 games, Sector A contains the separate Hazard Courses used for training HEV personnel (as seen in Half-Life) and security officers (as seen in Blue Shift). Demonstrations are provided by trained instructors or pre-recorded holographic assistants, whilst participants are constantly monitored by observing scientists. The two known Hazard Courses are built over old, disused industrial sectors of the facility, and are each divided into an obstacle course and target range. This facility can also be accessed in the Opposing Force expansion pack by activating the alt-fire on the Displacer in the map the weapon is found in. Holography (from the Greek, όλος-hòlòs whole + γραφή-grafè writh) is the science of producing holograms; it is an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. ...

Sector A also contains a Satellite Communications Centre, housing a large satellite uplink dish. This facility is used in Decay when Colette Green and Gina Cross help Dr. Rosenberg to contact the military. Dr. Colette Greens profile in Decays manual. ... Gina seen as the holographic guide in Half-Lifes tutorial Hazard Course. ...

A schedule in the Blue Shift manual also places the Area 4 Personnel Dormitories in this sector.

Sector B Coolant Reserve

The Coolant Reserve (formerly the Section A-17 Prototype Laboratories) stores the industrial coolant used to maintain Black Mesa's thousands of computers and machines. It is first seen by Barney Calhoun when he escapes from Sector C.

The section was originally the site of the (now decommissioned) Displacement Field Laboratory seen in Blue Shift, where Black Mesa's first teleportation experiments took place. It is powered by the Auxiliary Generator Facility. The surface level of Sector B is now a Train Yard that is used to ship freight in and out of the facility over the New Mexico Railroad Line. The sector also contains the Area 2 Administration Offices.

Sector C Test Labs and Control Facilities

The entrance to Sector C of the Black Mesa Research Facility.

Sector C is notable primarily for housing the Anomalous Materials Laboratories that were Dr. Freeman's workplace. This area contains the anti-mass spectrometer (Test Lab C-33/a), which was the initial source of the Black Mesa Incident and the starting point of the Half-Life series. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 120 KB) Summary The main entrance to the Anomalous Materials area of the Sector C Test Labs. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 120 KB) Summary The main entrance to the Anomalous Materials area of the Sector C Test Labs. ... Gordon Freeman, Ph. ...

In addition the Anomalous Materials Laboratories, the sector also contains the High-Energy Particle Laboratories and Supercooled Laser Laboratory.

Sector C is patrolled by guards from the Area 3 Security Facilities. The facility is adjacent to the High-Energy Particle Labs, and encompasses a central lobby, personnel facilities, video surveillance, and an armoury. The sector also contains the Level 3 Dormitories, which feature a Library and an Aquatic Centre with a large pool. This is the area where Gordon Freeman lived while working at Black Mesa. His dormitory (Dorm 309) can be explored in Decay, and indicates that the average dormitory room is furnished with a bed, entertainment centre (with television) and a small bathroom with shower.

Sector D Administration

Sector D (Office Complex) following the Xen invasion

Seen early in Half-Life, Sector D is mainly a large underground complex of Administration Offices where the bureaucratic aspects of Black Mesa's upkeep take place, along with some limited research. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 196 KB) Summary A dead scientist and a headcrab (with a Vortigaunt in the background), inside an office deep underground in Black Mesas Sector D Administration Suite, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 196 KB) Summary A dead scientist and a headcrab (with a Vortigaunt in the background), inside an office deep underground in Black Mesas Sector D Administration Suite, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ...

The Administration Offices are built beneath the surface's High Security Storage Facility, a large semi-subterranean warehouse made of interlocking Storage Areas. The lower levels of Sector D contain the Silo D Experimental Propulsion Laboratories where rocket engines are tested in one of Black Mesa's many decommissioned missile silos.

Sector E Biodome Complex

The Biodome Complex, a relatively new area of the facility (still under construction at the time of the Black Mesa Incident, as seen in Opposing Force), contains a series of Specimen Observation Areas, where captured Xen aliens are kept and observed in artificial recreations of their natural habitats. Alongside these enclosures are Specimen Containment Rooms where the aliens are studied in closer detail. The lowest underground levels of Sector E contain the Hydrofauna Studies Laboratory where aquatic aliens are kept in older decommissioned areas that have been flooded and converted into makeshift tanks. The sector also contains the Advanced Biological Research Lab seen in Half-Life, a smaller facility where the aliens are tested on and dissected by an automated robotic Surgical Unit, in ways that are likely unethical. {{}} Bioethics are the ethics of biological science and medicine. ...

The second level of the lab is used as an experimental weapon research lab, testing dangerous weapons such as the Gauss Gun and a large High-Powered Laser. The other surface areas of Sector E form an Ordinance Storage Facility where vast amounts of munitions and explosives are stored, ranging from small arms to crates of dynamite, even including some nuclear weapons. An area of this facility, Storage Unit 04 (also known as the Level 4 Storage Unit) becomes infested with the creature known as the "Gene Worm" towards the end of Opposing Force. Race X is a hostile alien race featured in the computer game series Half-Life by Valve Software. ...

The surface of Sector E contains the bulk of Black Mesa's still-functional military facilities, including at least three Helicopter Hangars, a Topside Armory and a Topside Barracks. The nearby Silo E High Altitude Launch Center, a silo converted into a fully-functional satellite delivery rocket lauchpad. was used by the Lambda Team, with the help of Gordon Freeman, to launch the satellite that later helped repair the resonance cascade in Decay.

Finally, Sector E is the location of Black Mesa's various Waste Processing facilities, including the Biological Waste Processing Plant seen in Half-Life and Waste Processing Area 3, seen in both Half-Life and Opposing Force.

The disused rail system

These various facilities are linked together, and to the rest of the base, by the (largely decommissioned) Sector E Materials Transport system, a network of dilapidated trams extending deep beneath the facility from Sector E Track Control. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 144 KB) Summary An old Black Mesa Research Facility rail system and tram, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 144 KB) Summary An old Black Mesa Research Facility rail system and tram, in the first-person shooter computer game, Half-Life. ...

Sector F Lambda Complex

The heavily fortified Lambda Reactor Complex is the site of Black Mesa's top secret teleportation labs. The reactor is a huge device consisting of the Lambda Reactor Main Coolant System, and the cylindrical Lambda Reactor Core. The core of the reactor consists of four levels (Levels A-D) that fuel an extremely powerful teleportation portal on Level A, where survey Teams are equipped and sent to Xen.

The Gamma Laboratories in Sector F were built later, as a means of capturing Xen specimens without risking casualties. These labs use a Prototype Displacement Beacon, which generates strong displacement fields and opens miniature dimensional rifts between Earth and Xen, for the safe and easy collection of alien life. It was used by Dr. Richard Keller in Half-Life: Decay to stop the effects of the resonance cascade and produce a "resonance reversal." Dr. Keller Dr. Richard Keller is a fictional character in Half-Life: Decay, the co-op expansion to Half-Lifes PlayStation 2 port. ...

Sector F is linked to the rest of the base via the Secured Access Lambda Sector Transport and the Central Complex, which contains Black Mesa's Central Command and Communication Centers and a Mechanized Infantry Repair Bay.

An underground habitat for Xen specimens in the Biodome Complex illustrates the facility's already existing interest of Xen

Image File history File links HL_BMRF_Biodome_observation_area. ... Image File history File links HL_BMRF_Biodome_observation_area. ... Xen is a free virtual machine monitor for IA-32, x86-64, IA-64 and PowerPC architectures. ...

Sector G Hydro Electric

Located at the lowest points of the Black Mesa Research Facility, Sector G channels power from Black Mesa's rivers and underground Drainage Canal system. Its most prominent feature is the Topside Hydro Plant that consists of a large hydroelectric dam that cuts through the centre of Sector E. The dam is heavily damaged by military bombardment during Opposing Force.

Additional/Unspecified Areas

The following areas are either not linked to a specific sector, or their specific sector is currently unknown.

• Area 7 Recreational Facilities - Whilst not seen in the game, a map of Black Mesa's tram routes in Blue Shift mentions Area 7. As Black Mesa's employees are required to live in the facility itself, it can be assumed that Area 7 contains comforts and diversions such as sporting areas, cafeterias, and other personnel facilities.

• Area 8 Topside Dormitories - One of the many topside dormitories on the surface of Black Mesa, featuring a basketball court and a small train platform. Barney Calhoun lived in one of the Area 8 dorms.

• Area 9 Transit Hub - The Area 9 Transit Hub acts as one of the many transit security checkpoints throughout the Black Mesa Research Facility. Trams that pass through the Area 9 Transit Hub can be rerouted to both the Sector E and C transit lines.

• Black Mesa Air-Traffic Control - This building is adjacent to a large airstrip, and is used to monitor and direct activity in the airspace above Black Mesa. Special clearance codes must be entered at this building before any rocket launch can take place in other areas.

• Infirmary - At the beginning of Opposing Force, Adrian Shephard wakes up in a damaged Black Mesa infirmary, which appears to still be under the control of Black Mesa personnel, who are caring for wounded soldiers and studying zombies under the protection of security officers. The infirmary is equipped with CAT and MRI scanners, which are still functional. Some areas of the infirmary, though, have been abandoned due to parasitic infestation, and have been blocked off with furniture and hospital beds. There are laser-based experiments taking place in this building.

• Level 1 Main Facility Entrance - Never physically seen within any of the Half-Life games, the Level 1 Main Facility Entrance heavily implies that it used as a central entrance checkpoint for all the facility personnel. The facility was only seen written on a transit map near the Sector G Main Access Lift, in Half-Life: Blue Shift.

Barney Calhoun is a fictional character in the Half-Life series of first-person shooter computer games by Valve Software. ... Corporal Adrian Shephard is the player character and silent protagonist in Half-Life: Opposing Force, the first expansion pack, by Gearbox Software, for the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life. ... Left: A headcrab from Half-Life. ... CT apparatus in a hospital Computed axial tomography (CAT), computer-assisted tomography, computed tomography, CT, or body section roentgenography is the process of using digital processing to generate a three-dimensional image of the internals of an object from a large series of two-dimensional X-ray images taken around... “MRI” redirects here. ...

References

Several manuals An instruction manual, in the context of computer and video games, is a booklet that instructs the player on how to play the game, gives descriptions of the controls and their effects, and shows a general outline of the concepts and goals of the game. ...

External links

• Overview of Black Mesa – A composite map of the facility as seen in the original Half-Life.