On 29 September DTM and NASA celebrated 50 years of radio astronomy. The event was marked by an unveiling of a Maryland state historical marker at the approximate site of the radio antenna array with which DTM staff members Bernard Burke and Kenneth Franklin discovered radio emissions from Jupiter in 1955. At the ceremony accompanying the unveiling, Dr. Burke, now the William A.M. Buren Professor of Astrophysics at MIT, gave a brief talk on what it was like to make that discovery. He noted the long hours and copious wire required to construct the antenna array, as well as the occasional need to chase a few pigs and cows out of the area. Burke also stated that it was important when doing research "to free your mind and be open to the data".

The celebration included a symposium, including talks given by Professor Burke; Joseph Alexander, National Academies Space Studies Board; and Joseph Lazio, Naval Research Laboratory, and a lunch reception that followed. Later that evening DTM's Alycia Weinberger closed out the celebration with her Capital Evening Lecture, "Our Solar System and Others Not So Like It". Read More . . .