Rain fails to dampen emotion and nostalgia of 40th birthday event at Arecibo Observatory

With the radio telescope in the background, three who lead the Arecibo Observatory pose at the facility this past weekend: from left, Martha Haynes, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell, who chairs the observatory oversight committee; Sixto González, observatory director; and Robert Brown, director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center at Cornell. Robert Barker/University Photography

By David Brand and Linda Grace-Kobas

ARECIBO, Puerto Rico The rains sheeted down and the thunderheads clapped over Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico Saturday, Nov. 1, while inside, the nostalgia and emotion flowed in equal torrents. The celebration of the research facility's four decades of scientific research as the world's largest and most-sensitive telescope for radar and radio astronomy brought Cornellians past and present to share their memories of the early 1960s when the depression for the massive antenna dish was carved out of a collapsed feature in the mountainous coral limestone.

"I stand in awe of the achievements of the Cornellians who 40 years ago had the vision and skill to create such an engineering and scientific marvel," said Robert Richardson, Cornell vice provost for research.

Many of those Cornell pioneers were among the more than 135 people present for the day of celebrations. "Practically anybody I ever knew at Arecibo is here," said Don Farley, professor of electrical engineering, who over the years has done major research into the ionosphere and has supervised graduate students doing research at the observatory.

"What we celebrate today is the scale of achievements that are possible when creative people, nurturing institutions, governments and supportive citizens work together in common purpose," said Robert Brown, director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) at Cornell, which has been managing the telescope for the National Science Foundation since 1971.

The center of the affection was not only the telescope, but the man who was instrumental in building it, William (Bill) Gordon. He was on Cornell's engineering faculty when, in the late 1950s, he began designing the telescope, a project that he brought to fruition in 1963, when the observatory was inaugurated and the first radio signals were received. "When we were talking about building it back in the late '50s, we were told by eminent authorities it couldn't be done," he reminisced in a talk to his colleagues, past and present, and their families in the observatory's Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor Center auditorium. "We were in the position of trying to do something that was impossible, and it took a lot of guts and we were young enough that we didn't know we couldn't do it. It took five years from idea to dedication, and that is short. But we were in the right place at the right time and had the right idea and the right preparation. We had no rules or precedents."

Arecibo telescope designer William (Bill) Gordon, former Cornell engineering faculty member, relates the early history of the Arecibo Observatory in his keynote speech, Nov. 1. Robert Barker/University Photography

Gordon, who recently moved back to Ithaca from Houston, where he is a distinguished professor emeritus at Rice University as well as an adviser to the U.S. Air Force and Navy, commented with a wry smile, "These days if you proposed a big project it would take five years to get the committee appointed."

Gordon and other speakers saluted Dale Corson, Cornell's former president, who was vigorously present at the ceremony, for the role he played in supporting the building of the telescope. He also was praised as a highly regarded photographer who took some of the earliest pictures of the telescope and its 305-meter (1,000-foot) diameter dish antenna. It was Corson, who was then dean of Cornell's College of Engineering, who gave Gordon and his colleagues his "enlightened agreement," noted Brown. As a result of his and Cornell's support, the developers were able to obtain funding from the U.S. government. (Arecibo Observatory actually was built by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which later handed it over to the NSF.)

In 1960, Gordon and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Arecibo to supervise construction of the telescope, with four other families: Merle La Londe, Tom Talpey, Al Johnson and George Peter. La Londe's widow, Kay, was at the 40th anniversary celebration as were Talpey and his wife, Elizabeth.

"We were here in 1960 before the first shovel was turned," remembered Kay La Londe, whose husband was the chief engineer on the project until 1965.

"I was recruited for one year by Bill Gordon, and I ended up staying three years," noted Talpey, who was a member of the technical staff working on the Arecibo receiver. (Johnson died a few years ago, and Peter was unable to attend the celebration.)

Curiously, noted Harold Craft, Cornell vice president for administration and CFO, the telescope was intended to have just a 10-year life span when construction began in 1960. But two upgrades, one in the 1970s and the second in the 1990s, have greatly extended the life of the instrument. And planned upgrades could see the telescope remaining a valuable scientific instrument for a further four decades, speakers at the ceremony pointed out.

The trip to Arecibo was a sentimental one for Craft, who was a graduate student at Cornell and did research on pulsars at the observatory from 1967 to 1969. He returned as director of Arecibo in 1973, left around 1981 and became director of NAIC for a year before moving into the Cornell administration. "It's really fascinating to see the development of this instrument and how it evolved in technology and how it's moved into new areas of science. Scientifically, it's very alive," he commented.

When Craft did his research at Arecibo, the director was the famed astrophysicist Frank Drake, now emeritus professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz, who also attended the ceremony. Standing next to his colleague from the early years of Arecibo, Allan Love of Rockwell International, who designed the telescope's circular line feed, Drake talked about the dedication and exemplary work of the pioneering group. "Allan built a line feed that still works perfectly," he said. "Yet it has never had a bath, and it has never melted."

At the Arecibo Observatory for its 40th anniversary, Nov. 2, are former colleagues Allan Love, right, of Rockwell International, who designed the circular line feed for the telescope, and Frank Drake, now an emeritus professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz, who is the observatory's former director. Robert Barker/University Photography

The celebration also gave local and Puerto Rican government officials an opportunity to salute Sixto González, recently named the first Puerto Rico-born scientist to become observatory director. In recognition of his heritage, many of the speeches were in both English and Spanish. "This is one of the most important days for the people of Puerto Rico," said Frankie Hernández Colón, mayor of Arecibo Municipality. "El radar Arecibo could be addressed as one of the most important classrooms in Puerto Rico," said César A. Rey Hernández, secretary of education for Puerto Rico. "Here at Arecibo Observatory, many teachers, many students have enriched their capacity to see the world with imagination, with a sense of wonder, a sense of marvel."

Both the mayor and Francisco Moreno, a representative of the Puerto Rico Senate, presented González with resolutions of congratulation for his appointment. "This is kind of nice. I've only been in the job a month, and I'm already getting stuff for my new office," joked González.

There also were congratulations for the observatory from, perhaps, the most important area of all: the funding agency, the NSF. Rita Colwell, director of the NSF, issued a statement calling Arecibo "an important recipient of NSF's public investment in educational programs, in astronomical and atmospheric research and in scientific facilities and infrastructure."

Their early belief in the telescope has been well rewarded, many of the pioneers noted. Or, as Gordon expressed it, "If you dream, have big dreams. And have talented supporters to help you."

For more information on the Arecibo Observatory and its 40th anniversary, visit this Web site: http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Arecibo40/.

Related story: Employees at Arecibo celebrate their 40 years of accomplishments