Zimenki Radio Astronomy Station, Радиоастрономическая станция «Зименки», Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Are we still talking about abandoned observatories? If so, I’ve gathered a few links for the Zimenki Radio Astronomy Station in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. The Zemenki Station was built for Gorki University in 1949, near the village of Zimenki on the Volga River. Originally, only a single radio telescope was constructed on the station. Eventually, two dishes were erected at the site.[1] I’m not quite sure when work at Zimenki came to an end. It was functioning in 1964, when Zimenki and Jodrell Bank participated in several communication exercises.[2] According to the Committee on Radio Astronomy, a single dish was operational as recently as 2002. If it’s still working, I can’t find information about it. A visitor to the site in 2010 indicated that there was only one dish on the station, but none of the radio telescopes was in working order. If anyone can direct me to more information (in Russian or English, print or digital), I’d appreciate it.
Some photos:
From Abandoned Russia
From Wikimedia Commons
From Fishki.net (scroll down)
From Urban3P Project
————————-
[1] W. T. Sullivan III, Ed., The Early Years of Radio Astronomy: Reflections Fifty Years After Jansky’s Discovery (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984): 274.
[2] Edward Clinton Ezell and Linda Neuman Ezell, The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4209/ch2-5.htm).
