The Dish Observatory

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The Dish Observatory (2011)

The Dish Observatory (alternative name Stanford Dish ) is a radio telescope for frequencies in the range from 22 to 50 MHz in Stanford, California . The main reflector has a diameter of 46 m and can be rotated both horizontally and vertically. It was completed on September 30, 1961 and was then the largest movable radio telescope in the United States . The construction costs totaled US $ 350,000 , which was borne entirely by the United States Air Force . The operator of the system is the research institute SRI International .

use

Use by the CIA

Due to its technical specifications, the device was used as part of a CIA project to spy out eastbound Soviet radar signals. Two receivers were specially built for this, which could analyze the Soviet radar beams using the moonbounce method . From August 1965, The Dish was able to successfully evaluate the radiation characteristics of the 5N15 Dnestr radar (NATO code name: “Hen House”), which was part of the “Amur” missile defense system operated at the time . By carefully studying the performance parameters of this radar, countermeasures and tactics to reduce its effectiveness have been developed.

Civil use

The Dish was later used to communicate with satellites and spacecraft . The bistatic design of the system offers various advantages for radio astronomy . The system was also used to send signals to the Venus probes Mariner , or to the two Voyager probes of NASA . In 1982 The Dish was used to rescue the amateur radio satellite UoSAT 1 after it was no longer accessible for months due to the less powerful emitter of the satellite operator .

Web links

Commons : The Dish Observatory  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Stanford's Dish. Physics Today 14, 11, 82 (1961). (English, accessed July 5, 2020)
  2. ^ "Radar Dish Erected on SU Campus". The Stanford Daily. 140 (7). Edition of October 2, 1961. Page 1. (English, accessed July 5, 2020)
  3. ↑ a b CIA Library: Moon Bounce Elint by Frank Eliot (declassified in 1994) (English, accessed July 5, 2020)
  4. ↑ SRI International: Dish radio antenna (accessed July 5, 2020)
  5. ↑ Andrew J. Butrica: Voyager: The Grand Tour of Big Science (accessed July 5, 2020)
  6. ↑ a b Reenita Malhotra Hora: "Tech History: The Story Behind Stanford's Satellite Dish Hiking Trail in Palo Alto" (English, accessed on July 5, 2020)

Coordinates: 37 ° 24 '30 "  N , 122 ° 10' 44"  W.