NRAO’s Early Computers

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NRAO’s Early Computers

Computer operators Sandy Braun and IBM employee Mary Jennings

Computer operators Sandy Braun (standing) and IBM employee Mary Jennings in the Charlottesville computer room in 1967. Every day, staff drove here with tapes of telescope data from Green Bank. Handwritten processing programs were transferred to cards using a keypunch. Sandy is feeding the punch cards into the computer. It would return hundreds of pages of data that were checked by eye then sent back to Green Bank. Mary is at the main terminal with a teletype keyboard with printer output — no video terminals in 1967! The computer is an IBM 360 series, and the operating system was known as OS/360; programs were probably written in PL/1 or Fortran.

Credit: 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.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
	AUI collaborates with the scientific community and research sponsors to plan, build, and operate cutting-edge facilities. We cultivate excellence, deliver value, enhance education, and engage the public.

NRAO’s Early Computers

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