Building the NRAO’s first radio telescope, the 85-foot Howard E. Tatel. The 85-foot arrived in Green Bank as a kit from the Blaw-Knox Corporation of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1958. Assembly was quick, and the Tatel began observing on February 13, 1959. In 1960 it became famous for performing the world’s first SETI observations under the direction of Dr. Frank Drake.
Placing the dish on the 85-foot telescope
Photographed here is the backup structure for the NRAO’s first radio telescope, the 85-foot Howard E. Tatel in Green Bank. The 85-foot arrived in kit form from the Blaw-Knox Corporation of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in 1958. It began observing on February 13, 1959 and became famous for performing the world’s first SETI observations under the direction of Dr. Frank Drake.
Installing the Tatel’s receiver
Here is a rare look at receiver installation on the 85-foot Howard E. Tatel radio telescope at Green Bank. At the time of this photo, the Tatel was just coming online in 1959 as the NRAO’s first radio telescope. The telescope could bend 90 degrees along the polar axis and weighed nearly 210 tons.
NRAO’s first telescope; completed
The newly assembled 85-foot Howard E. Tatel telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia began observing on February 13, 1959. The telescope was observing 24 hours per day. Some of its first observations include Cygnus A, Cassiopeia A, and Taurus A. Tatel became famous in 1960 for performing the world’s first SETI observations under the direction of Dr. Frank Drake.
Panel Installation on 85-1
Each panel on the Tatel telescope (85-foot) was 0.125 inches of thick aluminum. In this image taken from the from front of the telescope, we can see that it is near completion with only 19 or 20 panels left to place.
Control Room of the Tatel
This is the control room for our very first large telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia — the 85-foot dish antenna known as the Howard E. Tatel Telescope. This photo was taken in 1961 during the time of Frank Drake’s famous search for extraterrestrial signals.