Published May 1991 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd Space Age Groundbreaking in West Virginia In November 1988, the National Radio Telescope at Green Bank, Pocahontas County, suddenly collapsed. One of the largest radio telescopes in the world, that instrument had been used by the scientific community for 26 years to monitor naturally emitted radio signals from outer space, providing astronomers with information that could not be gleaned from optical astronomy alone and was able to detect radio beams from distances as great as 10 billion light years away. As Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and recognizing the importance of the collapsed radio telescope to our country and to West Virginia, I added $75 million to the 1989 supplemental appropriations bill to replace the destroyed instrument with a new, state-of-the-art radio telescope. Just recently, I participated in groundbreaking ceremonies at Green Bank for the construction of the replacement telescope. When finished, this new telescope will be the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. The giant dish, which can be pointed anywhere in the sky, will be bigger than two football fields, yet it will be so precise that deviations in shape will average less than the thickness of a piece of paper anywhere over the telescope's two-and-one-third- acre surface. This capability will allow us to look farther into space than ever before. The new telescope will have 7,000 individual structural elements, and will stand more than 475 feet high. Further, this one-of-a-kind radio telescope will be complete with super accurate laser aiming capacities, and will ensure America's leadership in this aspect of space research for decades into the twenty-first century. The telescope will be located in the midst of the National Radio Quiet Zone, an area uniquely protected from the radio emissions that might interfere with the operation of a radio telescope. Not only will this telescope reaffirm West Virginia's place as one of the world's foremost research centers for radio astronomy, but it will also serve to attract and stimulate the interest of young people in science. In addition to its benefits for America and the world, I look forward to the stimulus that this telescope can provide in West Virginia for developing science and technology; fields that promise to create new opportunities for economic growth throughout our state. May 8, 1991