The birth of Jodrell Bank

On an English field in 1957, the final touches were made to what was then the largest radio telescope in the world.

But designing and building the Jodrell Bank Observatory hadn’t been easy.

Sir Bernard Lovell, the mastermind behind the 76m wide dish, had to overcome money shortages, engineering difficulties and media scepticism.

But as the space race took off in the 1960s, Jodrell Bank proved its worth, tracking American and Soviet missions.

Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out more

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(Photo: Lovell Telescope, Jodrell Bank Observatory, 1961. Credit: Touring Club Italiano/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)