Near Death Experience: The Collapse of a Telescope

Technology
[caption id="attachment_9569" align="alignright" width="480"] The demise of the 300-foot telescope. Image: NRAO[/caption] A near death experience at an astronomy observatory? My son and I attended the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Green Bank West Virginia 140-foot radio telescope 50th year celebration. Most of my fellow attendees were new to me. I'd never met them before. This was because, first, many of them were from Green Bank, WV (I had been in Charlottesville, VA), and secondly, they were older than I am, having worked on the 140-foot from early on. A Casual Acquaintance - Near Death Experience One person I introduced myself to (I have learned to introduce myself to strangers, a wondrous practice, really) told me her husband was a mechanic on the 300-foot telescope that completely collapsed one night about…
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