page_title: Jodrell Bank Observatory
section_title: Mark IV, V and VA telescope proposals
hierarchical_section_title: Jodrell Bank Observatory / Mark IV, V and VA telescope proposals
caption_attribution_description: A model of the Mark V telescope, at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
context_page_description: The Jodrell Bank Observatory – originally the Jodrell Bank Experimental Station and from 1966 to 1999, the Nuffield Radio Astronomy Laboratories – hosts a number of radio telescopes, and is part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astronomer at the University of Manchester to investigate cosmic rays after his work on radar during the Second World War. It has since played an important role in the research of meteoroids, quasars, pulsars, masers and gravitational lenses, and was heavily involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Age. The managing director of the observatory is Professor Simon Garrington.
  The main telescope at the observatory is the Lovell Telescope. Its diameter of 250 ft makes it the third largest steerable radio telescope in the world. There are three other active telescopes at the observatory; the Mark II, and 42 ft and 7 m diameter radio telescopes.
context_section_description: The Mark IV, V and VA telescope proposals were put forward in the 1960s through to the 1980s to build even larger radio telescopes.
  The Mark IV proposal was for a 1,000 feet (300 m) diameter standalone telescope, built as a national project.
  The Mark V  proposal was for a 400 feet (120 m) moveable telescope. The concept of this proposal was for a telescope on a ³⁄₄-mile-long (1.2 km) railway line adjoining Jodrell Bank, but concerns about future levels of interference meant that a site in Wales would have been preferable.  Design proposals by Husband and Co and Freeman Fox, who had designed the Parkes Observatory telescope were put forward.
  The Mark VA was similar to the Mark V but with a smaller dish of 375 feet (114 m) and a design using prestressed concrete, similar to the Mark II (the previous two designs more closely resembled the Lovell telescope).
  None of the proposed telescopes was constructed, although design studies were carried out and scale models were made, partly because of the changing political climate, partly to the financial constraints of astronomical research in the UK and it became necessary to upgrade the Lovell Telescope to the Mark IA, which overran in terms of cost.
caption: A model of the proposed Mark V radio telescope
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