Take a look at the numbers. A student body of some 35,000. Research dollars of $420 million. A payroll approaching $600 million. And 327 degree fields. Acreage: 362. Buildings: 177.

A law school. A medical college.

But there are other, less obvious assets, waiting to be sought out. Here are a few:

Mars Garden

This little piece of the red planet, nestled near the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Building, has played an important role in UA's extensive ties to Mars missions. Red sand and volcanic basalt rocks helped simulate the the Martian surface for the Mars Pathfinder mission that was completed in 1997.

UA developed the cameras used in that mission, which served as a model for other reconnaissance runs.

The Mars Garden was used to calibrate a prototype rover's navigation system and prepare it to negotiate the surface of Mars. The rocks also helped UA test cameras.

The bell from the Arizona

Remember the USS Arizona?

It was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, taking about 1,200 American sailors and Marines with it.

Both ship bells were salvaged from the wreck, but then were nearly lost forever.

In 1946, UA alum Army Capt. R. Bill Bowers found the bell at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., where it was about to be melted down.

Bowers saved the bell, which is made of silver and copper smelted in Arizona, and arranged to have it shipped to UA.

In 1951, the bell was installed in the clock tower of the old Student Union, but was not visible to the public.

In August 2002, the bell was put on display in the new Arizona Student Union Memorial Center clock tower, easy for all to see. Bowers, then 99, gave it a ring.

It still tolls on special occasions, such as on Nov. 7, 2003, when it rang in honor of Bowers, who had died in Colorado at age 100.

Nuclear reactor

The university also goes nuclear, in a limited way.

A small nuclear reactor hums in the basement of the Engineering Building in the middle of campus.

The reactor, or atomic pile, in the vernacular of the industry, was installed in 1972 and is the only one on a college campus in the Mountain West.

Faculty use the reactor as a teaching tool and for research projects.

The reactor was on the chopping block last year, but it turns out getting rid of a nuclear reactor isn't like tossing out a lathe.

The remediation process takes years and costs a lot of money, so the reactor is likely to stick around for a while.

Mirror Lab

One of the crown jewels in UA research opened in 1985 beneath the east stands of Arizona Stadium: The Steward Observatory Mirror Lab.

At its heart is the mirror lab furnace, which can melt as much as 41,140 pounds of borosilicate glass into strong and lightweight honeycomb mirrors that vastly improve the performance of optical telescopes.

One of its most significant achievements: casting and polishing twin 8.4-meter mirrors for the recently dedicated Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham. According to UA, the $120 million LBT will collect more light than any existing telescope.

Tours of the mirror lab can be arranged by calling 621-1022.

To uncover your own UA gems, take a walk - or visit www.arizona.edu.