What happened to the 300-foot dish at Green Bank West Virginia in 1989?
No one was to blame, and no one was hurt – but one of radio astronomy’s greatest telescopes was gone. By June of 1989, the metal was being hauled off to scrapyards. However, pieces of the famous wire mesh were kept and are on display in the Green Bank Science Center in West Virginia.
Did the Green Bank Telescope collapse?
On the night of November 15, 1988, the 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia collapsed. The extent of the damage was not known until the Sun rose on the scene. This photo shows the incredible ruin of folded steel that greeted the staff in the morning.
When was the radio telescope in Green Bank built?
1959
Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The observatory has been a pioneer in modern radio astronomy since its first telescope, the 85-foot (26 meters) Tatel radio telescope, was built in 1959.
When did the Green Bank Telescope collapse?
November 15, 1988
On the night of November 15, 1988, the 300-foot Telescope in Green Bank West Virginia collapsed. After an investigation, a large but sheared metal gusset plate was found in the wreckage. The exact triangular plate can be seen in this photo taken during construction of the 300-foot in 1961.
How big is the Green Bank radio telescope?
The giant 2.3-acre dish surface of the green bank telescope is an enormous bucket for scooping up the weak radio waves that rain down on us from objects in space. In radio astronomy, this means the GBT is super-sensitive to the super-faint clouds of hydrogen that hang out between the stars and galaxies.
What was the cause of the Green Bank Telescope collapse?
It was constructed following the collapse of a previous telescope at Green Bank, a 90.44 m paraboloid that began observations in October 1961. The previous telescope collapsed on 15 November 1988 due to the sudden loss of a gusset plate in the box girder assembly, which was a key component for the structural integrity of the telescope.
Where is the radio telescope in West Virginia?
The telescope sits near the heart of the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, a unique area located in the town of Green Bank, West Virginia, where authorities limit all radio transmissions to avoid emissions toward the GBT and the Sugar Grove Station.
Why was Green Bank Observatory important to West Virginia?
Here, Green Bank had two key advocates: West Virginia’s senators at the time, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller. Both were fond of the observatory and felt it was an important economic and scientific asset for the state; Seielstad said he showed Rockefeller around the wreckage within the days following the collapse.