First NRAO radio telescopes, 1950s. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) was founded in 1956. It set up its Green Bank Observatory offices in an old farm house owned by the Beard family in Green Bank, West Virginia, USA. This building was later nicknamed 'The Nutbin' because the gutters collected falling nuts from the tree behind it. The Nutbin was also a laboratory, and these first telescopes on site sent their radio wave data directly to the astronomers working inside the Nutbin. From left to right, the telescopes are a feed horn sticking out of the window, a 12-foot telescope, and a 20-foot telescope. These were used to test radio interference and atmospheric conditions to see if the site was suitable for radio astronomy.