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Milestones

This page lists major milestones in the history of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics and Jodrell Bank Observatory

1945
Bernard Lovell arrives at Jodrell Bank.
1947
The 66-m transit telescope - the forerunner of the Mark 1 radio telescope - is constructed with the aim of detecting radar echoes from cosmic rays.
1949
The transit telescope is used to make the first detection of radio waves from the nearby Amdromeda galaxy. Emphasis at Jodrell Bank switches firmly away from cosmic rays and into astronomical research.
1950
Charles Husband presents Lovell with the first drawings of a proposed giant, fully steerable radio telescope.
1957
Mark 1 telescope becomes operational and is the only telescope in the Western world able to track the carrier rocket of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite.
1960
Lord Nuffield clears the remaining debt on the Mark 1 and the observatory becomes the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories.
1962
Mark 1, as part of a radio-linked interferometer, identifies a new class of very compact radio sources which are later recognised as quasers.
1963
Mark 1 discovers that OH emissions from star-forming regions and giant stars are the first celestial masers.
1966
Mark 1 receives pictures from Luna 9, the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon.
1968
Mark 1 confirms the existence of pulsars and discovers that their radio emission is highly polarised.
1969
Mark 1 is used for the first time in a VLBI observation with the 305-m telescope at Arecibo in Puerto Rico.
1970-71
Mark 1 is upgraded to the Mark 1A.
1976
Mark 1A nearly meets disaster in January storms. Diagonal bracing girders are added.
1979
A radio source discovered by Mark 1A proves to be the first gravitational lens.
1980
Mark 1A is used as part of the new MERLIN array.
1986
Mark 1A discovers the first pulsar in a globular cluster.
1986
The Mark II telescope receives a new reflecting surface, in a trial of a manufacturing technology that may be used to upgrade the Lovell Telescope.
1987
On its 30th anniversary, the Mark 1A is renamed the Lovell Telescope.
1990
Jodrell Bank's new, 32m high-technology telescope is added to the MERLIN array at Cambridge. Its many state-of-the-art features point the way for an upgraded Lovell Telescope.
1992
The Lovell Telescope is linked into the upgraded MERLIN array, which becomes a national facility open to all astronomers.
1993
At NASA's request, the Lovell Telescope searches for America's lost Mars Observer spacecraft, the only instrument able to do so.
1998
The Lovell Telescope begins participation with the SETI Project Phoenix
2000
The Lovell Telescope searches for NASA's Mars Polar Lander. Resurfacing of the Lovell Telescope begins.
2003
The Lovell Telescope searches for the Beagle 2 lander on Mars.
2004
Astronomers from Jodrell Bank, Australia, Italy and the US discover the first known double pulsar
2005
"Dark galaxy" VIRGOHI21 is discovered by the multi-beam receiver system on the Lovell Telescope.
2006
Jodrell Bank voted UK's greatest 'Unsung Landmark' in BBC poll.
2007
Lovell Telescope celebrates 50 years observing the sky.