The Lovell Telescope

The Lovell Telescope is a radio telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Goostrey, Cheshire. When construction was finished in 1957, the telescope was the largest steerable dish radio telescope in the world at 76.2 metres (250 feet) in diameter. By 1957 the telescope was hugely overbudget, many had lost faith in the project and Lovell began to doubt that his vision would ever be realised.

The turning point came in October 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. This was the start of the Space Race and the eyes of the world turned to the sky. It became apparent that the near-complete telescope at Jodrell Bank was the only instrument in the world capable of locating and tracking the carrier rocket that had launched Sputnik – an intercontinental ballistic missile. Overnight the fortunes of the telescope changed, and within weeks it was fully operational.

The telescope at Jodrell Bank had a much more secret role in the Cold War. The telescope was the only device in the UK that could detect long-range missile attack, so in the early 1960s, through the height of the Cold War, Jodrell was the UK’s early warning defence system. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, RAF teams were ready to take control and point the telescope to the East.

In 2019 Jodrell Bank was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its pioneering role in helping to understand the Universe and our place within it. The Lovell Telescope is a Grade 1 listed building, remains the third largest telescope of its kind in the world and is still in use as a working scientific instrument.

The first Pip shows an art installation by the telescope dish.
The second PiP shows the dish with a man standing near the centre, when the dish was being resurfaced. It gives one a sense of just how big the dish is.

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