Lovell, << LUHV uhl, >> Sir Bernard (1913-2012), an English astronomer, built the world’s first completely steerable radio telescope. This telescope can be pointed in any direction. Lovell became famous for tracking the first artificial satellite, the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, in October 1957. The Lovell Telescope has a reflector 250 feet (76.2 meters) in diameter that focuses radio waves on an antenna in the center of the reflector. It is at the Jodrell Bank Observatory near Manchester, England.
Lovell was born on Aug. 31, 1913, in Gloucestershire and studied physics at Bristol University. During World War II (1939-1945), he worked with radar and became interested in radio astronomy. Queen Elizabeth II knighted Lovell in 1961. Lovell died on Aug. 6, 2012.
