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A. Gunn (Jodrell Bank)
The MkI telescope (now called the Lovell telescope) at Jodrell Bank Observatory came into operation in 1957. By chance, it's very first operational task was to track by radar the carrier rocket of the Sputnik 1 satellite. The unique capabilities of the instrument were soon recognised by both the US and Soviet space programs and throughout the 1960s the telescope was involved in radar tracking, telemetry reception and command transmissions for numerous interplanetary missions. In fact, the MkI telescope provided the first proof that a man-made object had impacted another celestial body and received the first images from the surface of the Moon.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.