On the night of November 15, 1988, the 300-foot Telescope in Green Bank West Virginia collapsed. After an investigation, a large but sheared metal gusset plate was found in the wreckage. The exact triangular plate can be seen in this photo taken during construction of the 300-foot in 1961.
Viewing the 300-foot telescope from Route 28/92
For decades, this was the view of Green Bank’s 300-foot telescope from Route 28/92 heading north in West Virginia
Green Bank’s 300-foot telescope receives new surface
In 1970, the 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia got a new surface of higher-grade, finer aluminum mesh. During the following year, the telescope’s control building got a new addition: an RFI-shielded control room seen here as the taller half of the building.
Tracking Arm installed beneath 300-foot telescope
The 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia was a transit telescope, meaning that its dish did not track objects across the sky but watched them as they arced overhead. In the early 1970s, a tracking arm was installed up on the feed arm to slowly move the receivers in time with the movement of the sources the telescope was observing.
Creating space for the 300-foot telescope to move
In October, 1962, a trench was dug under the southern side of the 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia to increase the telescope’s ability to dip lower and collect more data from the southern portions of the sky.
Snow Settles on the 300-foot
Although the surface of the 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, west Virginia was made of aluminum mesh, it still gathered snow. To remove it, telescope operators could dip the dish and hope the snow slid off, shovel it off, or try more creative means of releasing the burden from the dish. One method used was lighting fires underneath the mesh; however, these were soon extinguished by their own successful snow melting prowess. Another technique was an early form of industrial snow-blower — a Rolls-Royce jet engine!