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Start Date:1967-09-00 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:Following NSF final approval in February 1965 and 2.5 years of construction on Kitt Peak AZ, NRAO's 36 foot telescope began formal operation in January 1968. This photo, taken in September 1967, late in the construction process, shows the prime focus at the end of the bipod receiver mount, with the stabilizing guy wires visible. The pipe carried cooling air to the receiver, which was bolted to the adjustable Stirling mount. And yes, the man on the left really is standing on top of the electrical boxes! Why? Is he holding a tape measure or a plumb line? Is he indicating a measuring point or a direction to shift? [show more]
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Start Date:1974 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ People:Cardarella, Donald J.
Sparks, Calvin |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope
Events--Open Houses |
Description:NRAO has always worked to introduce radio astronomy and to educate students, teachers, and the general public about our instruments and the exciting research conducted with them. Site tours and open houses have long been a popular and successful part of this process. In this photo, a group tours the control room of the 36 foot telescope on Kitt Peak outside Tucson in approximately 1974. Operator Don Cardarella is seated at the left and Cal Sparks, with white shirt, is standing on the right. Photo taken by Mark Gordon. [show more]
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Start Date:1975 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ People:Payne, John
Rhodes, Paul
Gasho, Victor |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:The surface accuracy of NRAO's 36 foot telescope in Tucson, which began operation in January 1968, fell significantly short of design specifications. In summer 1975, after measuring and mapping the surface to produce a contour map of surface errors, removing the surface paint, projecting the map onto the surface, and marking the contours on the aluminum surface, staff attempted to correct imperfections in the surface by "foiling the telescope." They filled surface "holes" with layers of 0.005 inch thick adhesive aluminum foil. Corrections were less effective than expected. Later the basic problem turned out not to be imperfections in the surface of the reflector but, rather, that the shape distorted with temperature (aluminum structure attached to a steel support structure - bimetallic strip effect) and also with gravity as the reflector tilted. Uncorrectable defects were part of the impetus for replacing the 36 foot reflector with a new 12 meter reflector. In this photo, John Payne (on the left in plaid cap), Paul Rhodes (right), and Victor Gasho (back to camera behind Paul) are hard at work attaching the adhesive foil. [show more]
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Start Date:1965-08 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope
Construction |
Description:Foundation for 36 Foot Telescope
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Start Date:1969-08-13 Location:Green Bank, WV People:Payne, John
Gum, Maxie |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Electronics
Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:John Payne and Maxie Gum with feed for 36 Foot Telescope
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Start Date:1969-08-13 Location:Green Bank, WV People:Gum, Maxie |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Electronics
Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:Maxie Gum with feed for 36 Foot Telescope
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Start Date:1974-08-20 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
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Location:Kitt Peak, AZ |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
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Start Date:1977-12 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ People:Hale, Bill
Cardarella, Donald J.
Freund, Robert |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:Following NSF final approval in February 1965 and 2.5 years of construction on Kitt Peak AZ, NRAO's 36 foot telescope began formal operation in January 1968. From the start, there were frequent improvements and replacements to the system, initiated by the talented technical staff in Tucson and Charlottesville. In late 1977, Tucson staff installed a new Cassegrain box and new 150 GHz quasi-optics. In this photo from that installation process, the old receiver control rack has been lifted across the dome by Bill Hale (left on the platform) and Don Cardarella (right on the platform), who lower the rack to Bob Freund; Bob will wheel it into the electronics building seen to the right of the dome. Before the electronics building was completed in 1976, staff had to haul delicate electronics down the mountain to Tucson and then back up again, a trip that was both time-consuming and risky for the equipment. [show more]
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Start Date:1966-02 |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope
Construction |
Description:NRAO chose the Rohr Corporation in Chula Vista, California, to build the 36 Foot Telescope, and Rohr decided to fabricate the surface in one piece rather than use multiple panels, a process which proved challenging. The surface was finally completed in late February 1966 and the 13,000 pound, 36 foot dish was transported by road from the Chula Vista factory to the base of Kitt Peak, accompanied by California and Arizona State Police escorts. The 425-mile trip took ten days and the entire Rohr convoy included eight truckloads of telescope components. Due to problems and delays in completing the dome to house the telescope, concerns about the impact of inclement weather conditions on top of the mountain, and ongoing repairs to the road up the mountain, the dish structure remained at the bottom of Kitt Peak for many months – under guard lest it be stolen or used as target practice by Arizona locals. In this photo, taken by John Hungerbuhler, the dish makes its slow way from California to Tucson. [show more]
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Start Date:1977-07-21 People:Payne, John |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
Description:John Payne with maser for 36 Foot Telescope
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Start Date:1967-09-15 Location:Kitt Peak, AZ |
Creator:Records of the NRAO Series:Photographs Series Unit:36 Foot Telescope Unit Type:Still Image Original Format of Digital Item:B&W negative Subject:Instruments--36 Foot Telescope |
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