Tricky Lift
Erection of the 266-ton dish superstructure (BUS) for the 140-foot (43-meter) telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia in November, 1964. At one point the cranes and derricks gave out, dropping the BUS to the ground. It withstood the impact without damage, and the lift continued six days later with a necessary change to the crane arrangement. After this photo was taken, the BUS was pin-wheeled to bring the declination axis shaft (the bulge at the back of the BUS) directly on its yoke arm bearings (the black C-shaped structure). In the foreground are some of the 60 surface panel sections designed and manufactured by the D. S. Kennedy Company Division of Electronic Specialties. In the background is the focal feed support on its side, ready to be erected after the panels.
