title pretty much says it all, but what im confused about is, they were testing theses alien gem things, but they were also launching satellites into space?? what does that have to do with anything? im confused about that whole thing here.
so what exactly were they really doing at Black Mesa Research Facility?
p.s if theres already a thread like this, sorry, the search function never gives me any results
Black Mesa had a lot of divisions for working in different fields of science.
Portal technology, rocket science, studies of extraterrestrial life forms, experimental weapons… pretty much the whole package.
Different areas of the place were working on different things.
Completely answering that question is impossible, we only know what we were shown in HL. Ham Solo pretty much summed it up, but perhaps we can also include communications research due to the satellite launch?
This mod really needs to be released, it seems good topics of conversation regarding HL have been exhausted. lol
Regarding the specific examples you gave:
They were observing Xen crystals to help them understand Xen, to help understand teleportation.
The satellites were to control the portals they made with this information, somehow.
In black mesa, I was in charge of killing scientists and guards with a crowbar.
all that may be true, but what i still dont understand is how like this orange crystal made a portal to xen. I mean what kind of portal technology are we talking about here?
They were doing Science.
Dude, HL is a video game, its not real life…don’t think about it too hard. Besides, its not like there is some correct answer.
In the Half-Life universe, transportation portals through space (and time?) are a reality. Whether it’s shot by a handheld device or free-floating in space, these portals are wormholes to different locations. In Portal, they simply moved you from place to place. In Half-Life, they also between different places, but both here on Earth and on the borderworld.
To go to and from Xen requires satellite communication, at least, as far as I know. They use these portals to go to Xen for extraterrestrial research. Gordon Freeman was just some schmo who tested an extraterrestrial crystal which made the portal between Earth and Xen (and possibly some currently unnamed world) become unstable, bringing forth all sorts unforeseen consequences.
Black Mesa (the research facility, not the mod) is funded by the United States government for various unanswered reasons, but probably military. When the link between Earth and the alien worlds via Xen became unstable, the HECU was called, and, well…
I think the alien crystal explosion also affected Gordon himself, psychologically. At the very least, he is now suffering from severe schizophrenia and often sees his alternate self “the G-Man” in the form of a hallucination.
But you can see him on the tram before the incident.
Science and creating Space Kittens!.
Too bad you couldn’t see any space kittens during Half-Life. :meh:
Further proof, it’s pretty common for a person to place something they’ve seen in reality into their subconscious when they lose control of their sanity. In fact, typically it is something either coinciding with or very close in proximity to the incident, something they might be able to associate it with.
So perhaps Gordon has been sleepwalking for 20 years? And finally waking up. 
Nah, he felt asleep in the freezer after trying to get a snack.
no shit sherlock
^This^
Don’t like my answer? Don’t ask stupid questions than. lol
What kind of answer are you really looking for anyway? Any answer is speculation.
Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.