Comments on: Selling the family silver http://chrislintott.net/2007/12/11/selling-the-family-silver/ The Universe as seen from the perspective of an astronomical researcher, presenter and writer. Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:50:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Stuart http://chrislintott.net/2007/12/11/selling-the-family-silver/comment-page-1/#comment-27128 Stuart Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:09:38 +0000 http://chrislintott.net/2007/12/11/selling-the-family-silver/#comment-27128 I wish you hadn't said that Rob. :( Jodrell has spent much of the past half century in crisis over funding. The first funding issue was during the construction of the Lovell Telescope in 1957. The telescope was saved due to launch of Sputnik and the Lovell being the only dish in the West capable of tracking the carrier rocket (an ICBM). In the late 70s/early 80s, the observatory was saved by interferometry (MERLIN). During the 90s the University of Manchester were going to cut funding and it was only by selling telescope time to the SETI institute that the observatory was saved again. The resurfacing of the Lovell in 2000/1 (to help carry things along until eMERLIN could get going) was helped by the North West Development Agency on condition of improved visitor facilities. Plans for those were set back in 2003/4 due to the University of Manchester merging with UMIST and everything going a bit pear-shaped for a while. I have also had suspicious that certain folks at PPARC (now STFC) didn't like Jodrell too much either for personal reasons. A current problem is the e-MERLIN upgrade which I think is running behind a little. Whilst I don't think this requires extra funding, there is a problem in that the Government want to sell off the bits of the spectrum MERLIN is currently using for the telescope communication links (eMERLIN will use fibre optics). That could mean that without e-MERLIN working, MERLIN would be forced by Ofcom to cease operations. Luckily the Lovell Telescope has listed status so the University has a requirement to keep it in some kind of order. I wish you hadn’t said that Rob. :( Jodrell has spent much of the past half century in crisis over funding.

The first funding issue was during the construction of the Lovell Telescope in 1957. The telescope was saved due to launch of Sputnik and the Lovell being the only dish in the West capable of tracking the carrier rocket (an ICBM). In the late 70s/early 80s, the observatory was saved by interferometry (MERLIN). During the 90s the University of Manchester were going to cut funding and it was only by selling telescope time to the SETI institute that the observatory was saved again. The resurfacing of the Lovell in 2000/1 (to help carry things along until eMERLIN could get going) was helped by the North West Development Agency on condition of improved visitor facilities. Plans for those were set back in 2003/4 due to the University of Manchester merging with UMIST and everything going a bit pear-shaped for a while. I have also had suspicious that certain folks at PPARC (now STFC) didn’t like Jodrell too much either for personal reasons.

A current problem is the e-MERLIN upgrade which I think is running behind a little. Whilst I don’t think this requires extra funding, there is a problem in that the Government want to sell off the bits of the spectrum MERLIN is currently using for the telescope communication links (eMERLIN will use fibre optics). That could mean that without e-MERLIN working, MERLIN would be forced by Ofcom to cease operations.

Luckily the Lovell Telescope has listed status so the University has a requirement to keep it in some kind of order.

]]> By: Robert Simpson http://chrislintott.net/2007/12/11/selling-the-family-silver/comment-page-1/#comment-27087 Robert Simpson Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:44:04 +0000 http://chrislintott.net/2007/12/11/selling-the-family-silver/#comment-27087 Can we now expect to see adverts for Jodrell in the newsagent's window? Can we now expect to see adverts for Jodrell in the newsagent’s window?

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