Inside the Bearing Room

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Inside the Bearing Room

The ball bearing of the 140-foot telescope

The giant, shiny metal ball is the 17.5-foot hemispherical heart of the 140-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. It supports the telescope’s full rotating weight of 2700 tons on a .005-inch thick oil film (see pumps in foreground) between it and the main hydrostatic pad supports (black). The bearing is bolted to the end of the polar shaft. The shaft slowly spins against the turning of the Earth to allow the 43-meter dish telescope to keep itself aimed on a particular object in space.

Credit: B. Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF

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The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
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