Honeycomb Hemisphere

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Honeycomb Hemisphere

Original structure for the 140-foot telescope's ball bearing

This honeycomb of metal was to be the support structure for a 22-foot across welded steel sphere bearing for the 140-foot (43-meter) telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. However, the welds created more than 70 small cracks in the metal, a condition known as “brittle fracture.” The cold Green Bank winters would have spelled doom for this bearing, and resulted in the loss of the entire telescope. This design was abandoned in 1962 for a smaller cast bearing.

Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF

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