Black Mesa



Black Mesa is a research corporation whose headquarters are located in the Black Mesa Research Facility, in the New Mexico desert. It was first seen in Half-Life.

Fields array
Black Mesa undertakes research in various fields from standard scientific research to 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. The research is mostly conducted in the Black Mesa Research Facility and includes both pure research and applied science.

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 into the Black Mesa facility 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.



Competitors
Little is known about Black Mesa's competitors. It is known that Aperture Science was competing with Black Mesa on various government contracts, including the development of portal technology. In addition, according to potentially biased information from Aperture Science, Black Mesa received a much larger percentage of contracts than average. The effect that the Xen Invasion had on Aperture Science or any of Black Mesa's unnamed competitors is unknown up to now.