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I spent two weeks there, during the commissioning of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Our team was designing the monitor and control system for an upgrade for another NRAO telescope, the Very Large Array in New Mexico. The team from the GBT led us through their design during the day; our nights sleeping in the on-site dormitory, complete with the break room where Frank Drake came up with his Drake Equation estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations...

Those old diesel trucks!

The GBT is so big, it's just wrong. Experiencing the forest moon of Endor, in real life.

(The single-dish GBT is sensitive to near-field RFI, whereas the multi-dish Very Large Array is a bit more tolerant. The VLA isn't restricted to antiquated diesel vehicles. Although they do ask visitors to power off cell phones and refrain from any microwave ovens that RVs might bring in.)



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