Model (scale 1:200) of Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope.

This model (scale 1:200), of the Lovell Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire was made in 1961. United Steel Companies Companies, who constructed the radio telescope for Manchester University, also built this model. Known as the Mark-1 Telescope, it has a 250-foot (76m) parabolic dish that was directed using early electronic computers. The project to build the telescope was the brainchild of Prof. Bernard Lovell, a pioneer of radio astronomy. Shortly after being commissioned, the Jodrell Bank telescope sprung to prominence in 1957 as it tracked the Russian Spunik probe and later interplanetary spacecraft. Since being built it has been continually updated and despite being 35 years old, is still at the forefront of astronomical research.