Photo

It takes years to completely repaint the Green Bank Telescope, and painters arrive every summer to keep this endless task going. Here, a painter is suspended beneath the backup structure of the GBT where he and his fellow painters have 7,652 trusses to paint.

Green Bank Engineers Ike Johnson (lying down at the finder scope) and Jeff Cromer are aligning the mount for the Green Bank Telescope’s quadrant detector. Ike is viewing a beam that has come from the feed arm of the GBT over 60 feet above them. In wind and temperature extremes, and under its own weight, the long feed arm sways. A laser from the arm gets aligned down to a reflector and into a rangefinder that helps the telescope operators know how well the GBT’s receivers are aligned to the waves bouncing up from the dish.

The Green Bank Telescope’s 2.3-acre dish is supported by 7,652 pieces of steel welded and joined together in a complex framework known as a backup structure, or BUS. It weighs around 2.3 million pounds. Keeping the GBT strong and sound requires constant vigilance.

After a nearly 400-foot descent from the prime focus of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), this large receiver arrives safely on the ground. Technicians will remove its cradle and get ready to wheel the unit into a truck for a 2-mile drive back to the electronics lab.

After a nearly 400-foot descent from the prime focus of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), this large receiver arrives safely on the ground. Technicians remove its cradle and get ready to wheel the unit into a truck for a 2-mile drive back to the electronics lab.

The Green Bank Telescope was constructed in the 1990s, beginning with its huge circular track and support. The track goes 25 feet into the ground to remain sturdy and level. In this photo, contract engineers and staff are working on one of the truck motors. The GBT’s four trucks drive the 17-million pound telescope around on this circle. Each truck has four wheels, meaning each wheel supports one million pounds.