Lovell, A C Bernard

British physicist. Established the Jodrell Bank radio observatory, used during the cold war to support NASA satellites and receive Soviet probe signals.

A. C. Bernard Lovell taught physics at the University of Manchester in England before World War II, specializing in cosmic ray investigations. During the war he worked on radar development. Upon return to Manchester, he established the Jodrell Bank station in nearby Cheshire, setting up a radio telescope with a 250-foot antenna. It was completed in 1957 and was used by NASA to receive signals from the Pioneer series of moon probes and as a sensitive receiver of signals bounced off the passive Echo satellite in the period of this diary.