Talk:Green Bank Telescope

The Fall and Rise of Green Bank
This article does not seem to have a whole lot of history about the GB telescope.

I was perusing my old Astronomy magazine issues, preparatory to throwing them away, and came across a late 1980s bulletin that stated the Green Bank telescope had collapsed. A month or two later, Congress was reported to have provided funding to help rebuild. So, perhaps this article could be updated with more information about that? I didn't think to keep those articles because I expected to find the information on-line. GBC 16:39, 13 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I found an article referring to the original as the 300 Foot Telescope. https://greenbankobservatory.org/science/telescopes/300-foot-telescope/ 163.116.157.24 (talk) 18:15, 18 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I also found an article pointing to the collapse of the original Greenbank telescope. This needs to be added back in, as it's an important part of the history of engineering large dish telescopes. https://www.space.com/arecibo-observatory-green-bank-telescope-collapse-lessons LDtronic01 (talk) 15:33, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

Largest moving structure?
I've heard that the GBT is the largest moving structure in the world. Can't prove this wrong yet. Solarapex 05:09, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

according to the largest moving structure is the Bagger 293 with 14,200 tonnes 212.201.75.183 (talk) 02:50, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

There can be little doubt that the Bagger 293 is the largest moving land structure in the world. It is considerably heavier that the GBT, and the whole thing moves, whereas the GBT is fixed to the ground. The GBT may be the tallest moving structure in the world, but in terms of size, the Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60 is 502 m long and nearly as heavy as the Bagger 293. Of course, supertankers are the largest and heaviest moving structures in the world. PhilUK (talk) 21:27, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Nearby Telescopes
This article mentions nothing about the nearby 40 ft radio telescope or other radio telescopes that are on the site. It would be useful to talk about these other minor radio telescopes.

--Skydude176 (talk) 17:11, 21 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Why should we merge this article with the Green Bank Interferometer? These are two separate telescopes and have a different history and function. Anthony Rushton (talk) 13:43, 29 July 2009 (UTC)


 * If you want to mention more of the telescopes on site, consider expanding the Green Bank section of the NRAO page. The other telescopes are not relevant to the GBT page just because they are on site. &mdash; Hoho (Talk) 01:52, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * These two articles should not be merged as the GBI is different to the GBT - different science, different telescopes. It has been alternatively suggested to expand the information about the site at Green Bank, West Virginia. Anthony Rushton (talk) 09:16, 21 September 2009 (UTC)

Broken Link

 * Aerial photo that happened to catch telescope while it was under construction

On Sept. 18, 2011 when I clicked on the link to the aerial photo I got the following message: "The resource cannot be found. Description: HTTP 404. The resource you are looking for (or one of its dependencies) could have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please review the following URL and make sure that it is spelled correctly. Requested URL: /usgsentry.aspx" Nymatis (talk) 14:57, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

Article name change seems in order (Green Bank Telescope -> Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope)
The page name seems innacurate, especially compared to the title - there is more than one radio telescope at the NRAO facility in Green Bank - using the actual name "Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope" would seem to be more appropriate, as there was a different telescope that preceded it (and might eventually get its own wikipedia article) 208.54.36.251 (talk) 12:20, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Historical funding?
How has the funding for this facility worked over the years? 100% US government? How much of that is fed through the NSF? How much, if any, is US military spending? How has the annual opperating budget varied over the decades since the 1960s?

Regarding recent years, the article says a bit about constraints in funding, but offers little in the way of context -- just one number: the annual op budget in 2013 or 2014 appears to be $10 million. So is that the "normal" (in good times) annual operating budget for this facility?, or is that $10M already reduced from the good times budget? And how much of that is paid by NASA? ... by the government of United States? ... by private sources (prior to 2015—I would expect the Breakthrough Initiatives project to substantially change that in future years, at least until 2025 or so)? Anyone know where to look for this info? It would greatly improve the article to have that information worked in. N2e (talk) 15:32, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Old 1962 telescope
I wonder if a picture could be found of the original 1962 telescope that collapsed? It was at least as notable as the current one; in 1962 it was by far the largest aperture radio telescope in the world. -- Chetvorno TALK 22:21, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Just a Chuckle
Anyone else wonder how pissed Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd (D-WV) must be, what with him looking up from hell and seeing something with his name on it being used to benefit all people, not just his precious white people? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:1A0D:807A:BC98:BBDD:22D3:56D8 (talk) 01:52, 1 April 2017 (UTC)