EXCLUSIVE: An up close look at the Green Bank Telescope

EXCLUSIVE: An up close look at the Green Bank Telescope

GREEN BANK, W.Va. (WBOY) — In May, 12 News took a special tour of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Green Bank Telescope (GBT), the largest fully-steerable radio telescope in the world. At 485 feet tall with a 2.3-acre dish, the NSF Green Bank Telescope weighs 17 million pounds, or about 8,500 tons. But why does the GBT need to be so big in the first place and why is the fact that it's "fully steerable" such a big deal? Diagram of the Green …