The scale of a project often determines the size of the problems too. Agreed, all or most projects are confronted with hurdles, but overcoming them is often easier in the case of smaller projects. When the stakes are higher and things take a downward turn, problems might seem insurmountable on occasions.
The Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, England is one such project that almost went under just as it was almost ready for operation. Thanks to an unexpected turn of events, however, it survived, going on to play a crucial role in radio astronomy.
Humble beginnings
The observatory had humble beginnings, thanks in large to one man: Bernard Lovell. Having been called up for wartime work on centimetric radar during World War II, Lovell learnt about radar’s potential. He was quick to realise that it wasn’t limited to detecting enemy vessels, but could actually be employed to detect natural phenomena that were happening at a distance.
Having returned to the University of Manchester after the war in 1945, Lovell’s efforts at radar experiments outside his lab in the city proved unsuccessful as there was interference from Manchester’s electric trams. As the university’s botany department owned land in Cheshire, Lovell decided to use it to continue his experiments to see if radar could be used to study cosmic rays. They couldn’t, but there was success nevertheless.
On a cold day in December, Lovell drove a trailer to the remote location — with the area around the gardener’s hut serving as the perfect setting for him to set up shop. While the results were good, it didn’t meet his initial objectives. Instead, he had luck finding meteors and work soon shifted in the direction of studying meteor trails, the moon, and different planets. It marked the beginning of radio astronomy in Jodrell Bank.
For what remained of the decade, Jodrell Bank turned into a hubbub of activity in radio astronomy. Studying radio waves from space to understand the universe was still a fledgling field and the excitement was palpable for the scientists who joined Lovell to work in this new branch of science. Using army surplus, they built their own equipment, including the “Searchlight Aerial” in 1946 and “Transit Telescope” in 1947. Lovell, however, knew that they needed a bigger telescope to be at the forefront of the field.
A view of the Lovell Telescope at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
Building the Lovell Telescope
Preliminary ideas for a 250-foot steerable parabolic dish were shot down by many engineers, and it was only after Sheffield engineer Charles Husband came on board that they had a workable design. Funding agencies gave the initial go-ahead for ‘Mark 1’ — now known as Lovell Telescope — on June 22, 1950 and the final approvals came through by March 1952. Construction began later the same year.
It was far from smooth sailing as the project faced deep financial stress. It wasn’t until May 1953 that the concrete foundations were completed, and it was only in March 1954 that circular tracks enabling telescope movement in azimuth were laid. The electric drive motor system for the telescope proved harder to develop than imagined, and it was only in the spring of 1957 that this system was finally delivered following multiple delays, including a change of contractor. By now, the construction of the telescope had gone way beyond the initial estimated budget, plenty of people had lost hope in the project, and Jodrell Bank’s future was teetering on the brink.
“I was in the laboratory where the receiving apparatus was and suddenly, before midnight, I saw the most dramatic echo”Sir Bernard Lovell
It was in such a climate that hope came from unexpected quarters — the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957. The first artificial Earth satellite not only sounded the start gun for the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the U.S., but also marked the rebirth of Jodrell Bank, offering it renewed purpose.
While any simple equipment could be used to listen to the bleeps from Sputnik 1, it soon became obvious to anyone with passable knowledge of the subject that the near-complete Mark 1 at Jodrell Bank was the only instrument with the capacity to locate and track the intercontinental ballistic missile that had served as Sputnik 1’s launch rocket. Soon fully operational, the radar equipment built to detect echoes of natural phenomena was looking instead for a missile. It succeeded on October 12.
“Wonderful echo”
“I was in the laboratory where the receiving apparatus was and suddenly, before midnight, I saw the most dramatic echo,” Bernard recalled, years later, according to the BBC. “A huge echo — the echo of the intercontinental missile travelling over the lake to a distributed speed of 17,000 miles an hour. This wonderful echo, the only instrument in the Western world which could detect the launching of the Sputnik.”
While this brought credibility to Jodrell Bank, sponsors weren’t queuing up yet to save it from financial distress. Its size and capability, however, turned out to be an asset, and soon both the U.S. and the Soviet Union were seeking Jodrell Bank’s help, and it started playing a pivotal role in the Space Race. Funding soon followed.
In the decade that followed that turning point, Jodrell Bank served as a focal point to confirm both success and failure. In 1959, the Soviet Union roped in its service when Luna 2 became the first human-made object to crash into another cosmic body, our moon. Luna 9’s first images from the surface of the moon were received at Jodrell Bank in 1966. When the Apollo 11 astronauts took the first steps on the moon, Jodrell Bank was listening in throughout, right from the descent stage.
Also read: Luna 2: touched by humans, touches the moon
Even though there were complaints from certain quarters about these tracking escapades costing valuable research time, there was no denying that it only amounted to just a small fraction of all the work it was doing. Additionally, tracking these probes also enabled exploring regions of space wherein Jodrell Bank had a scientific interest.
Immense contributions
Jodrell Bank, in fact, has probably contributed beyond Lovell’s wildest dreams when he set out on his trailer in 1945. From quasars to black holes, and pulsars to gravitational lenses, Jodrell Bank has played a crucial part in our better understanding of the universe.
While the Lovell Telescope is still one of the largest telescopes of its kind, Jodrell Bank was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. Things aren’t all rosy with the observatory at the moment though, with the institution losing funding for the future in July 2026 — a step that could lead to its closure in March 2028. “There must be a way to save Jodrell Bank,” British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on September 1, vowing to find a solution to this pressing problem. If that happens, it wouldn’t be the first time Jodrell Bank has turned a corner.
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