Green Bank Observatory

If you’re a science geek at all, or enjoy movies with huge radio telescopes, this is a must-visit. We did the bus tour, which takes you right up to the telescope. No phones allowed, so no photos. If you go, bring a film camera or buy one at their gift shop before the bus tour.

We then did the “High Tech Tour.” It’s a behind-the-scenes tour that required a background check in advance.

They only do this once a month and we happened to be there on the day, so we took advantage of it. It was, how shall I say, very high tech. An engineer or scientist does the tour, and assumes the people on the tour are also engineers or scientists. I’m an engineer, and I understood most of what they talked about, but my brain hurt by the end. Sharon is neither scientist nor engineer, but she says she was still entertained.

If you go, the building is HOT, and this was May. We wore long sleeves and jeans and were sweating. The labs I’ve worked in were all cold, so I’m not sure why it was so hot.

Now to the photos. Unfortunately not many because they were only allowed in a few places. There was a “children’s museum” type area we went to, also, with the colorful, fun pics. Click to enlarge.