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"The Dish," a local landmark, is a radio telescope in the Stanford foothills with a 150-foot-diameter (46 m) parabolic reflector that was built in 1961 by the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International). The cost to construct the telescope was $4.5 million and was funded by the United States Air Force, with the original purpose of studying the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

Later on, the Dish was used to communicate with satellites and spacecraft. With its unique bistatic range radio communications, where the transmitter and receiver are separate units, the powerful radar antenna was well-suited for communicating with spacecraft in regions where conventional radio signals may be disrupted.

At one point, the Dish transmitted signals to each of the Voyager craft that NASA dispatched into the outer reaches of the solar system. It has also been used to remotely recalibrate ailing satellites orbiting the Earth.

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©2017 George Steinmetz
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"The Dish," a local landmark, is a radio telescope in the Stanford foothills with a 150-foot-diameter (46 m) parabolic reflector that was built in 1961 by the Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International). The cost to construct the telescope was $4.5 million and was funded by the United States Air Force, with the original purpose of studying the chemical composition of the atmosphere.<br /> <br /> Later on, the Dish was used to communicate with satellites and spacecraft. With its unique bistatic range radio communications, where the transmitter and receiver are separate units, the powerful radar antenna was well-suited for communicating with spacecraft in regions where conventional radio signals may be disrupted.<br /> <br /> At one point, the Dish transmitted signals to each of the Voyager craft that NASA dispatched into the outer reaches of the solar system. It has also been used to remotely recalibrate ailing satellites orbiting the Earth.

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