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JODRELL BANK UNDER THREAT
Macclesfield`s iconic eye to the skies at Jodrell Bank faces possible closure.
The world-renowned radio telescope – one of Britain’s best-known observatories – could be sacrificed as the government look to save an estimated £2.5 million-a-year in science spending.
The site, which is a big tourist draw to the area, is at risk despite benefiting from large cash injections in recent years, and after the United Nations earmarked it as a possible future World Heritage Site – as revealed in the Express in January.
For anyone brought up in Macclesfield, Jodrell Bank will hold fond memories from at least one school trip of science and solar discovery. And the quirky 3,200-tonne telescope is also a familiar sight for thousands of commuters through the Cheshire Plain each day.
But despite a history of pioneering success since opening in 1945 – it helped track the Russian Sputnik rocket which launched the space race in 1957 – its days could now be numbered.
Jodrell Bank, in Lower Withington, is being considered for closure under proposals to end public funding for the e-Merlin project, which links seven radio telescopes around Britain.
Scientists are already claiming the telescope’s closure would destroy Britain’s leading role in radio astronomy.
The Royal Astronomical Society claims it would make a “severe dent” in Britain’s reputation for space study.
