42 Foot Telescope, 1966

The 42 foot telescope on a flat car in Bartow WV, 27 July 1966. During planning for what became the VLA, it seemed prudent to show that one could make observations with reasonable phase stability over baselines of 100,000 wavelengths. NRAO bought the 42 Foot to use at sites up to 35 km from Green Bank with one element of the Green Bank Interferometer. The telescope could be transported on one semi-trailer and could be disassembled and re-erected in about two weeks without using a crane. Successful observations between the 85 Foot Tatel Telescope and the 42 Foot, located on Spencer's Ridge 11 km away, helped demonstrate proof of concept for the VLA. In this photo, George Grove is on the far right (with pipe), Tom Williams second from right.

Records of the NRAO

NRAO/AUI/NSF

Still Image

GB66-03096-42ft-on-flatcar.jpg

B&W negative

1966-07-27

NRAO/AUI/NSF

GB66-03096

1966-07-27

Photographs Series

42 Foot Telescope Unit

2A