Daily Image
10-06-1977
The great WSRT screwing project
| Submitter: | Jan Noordam |
| Description: | Originally, the panels of the WSRT 25m dishes were glued onto the frame. Just like many other manufacturers who had contributed to this new national treasure, the glue company proudly advertised with large pictures of the gleaming WSRT. However, in 1977, almost as soon as the warranty on the glue expired, the panels started to fall off like a gentle rain. This was of course unfortunate, but it did give an opportunity for the entire Dutch astronomy community to rise magnificently to the occasion. Since the WSRT was then the largest, most sensitive radio telescope in the world, operating in the hottest wavelength range, all Dutch astronomers felt a keen sense of ownership. So, when the call went out from our Supremo, Harry van der Laan, they all flocked to Westerbork to help the entire SRZM staff to re-attach the panels with millions of little self-tapping screws. It created a wonderful sense of brotherhood, unity and purpose. The picture shows Henk Snijder, working from a cherry-picker. Some of us were less adept at manouvering these contraptions, and personally I was glad that the dent that John O'Sullivan and I caused in the surface of RT3 was only discovered 15 years later, when Hans van Someren Greve started measuring the dish shapes with holography. Strangely, such a dent did not stop us from achieving million-to-one dynamic range. |
| Copyright: | JEN |
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