With the advent of wireless technology and microprocessors in everything from cameras to cars, it is difficult to keep the sites free of radio interference.

At one point, the observatory faced the problem of North American flying squirrels tagged with United States Fish and Wildlife Service telemetry transmitters.

Two major overhauls installed a new surface in 1970 to correct for maintenance, snow damage, and warping from its sheer size; then a new, bigger project building was constructed in 1972 that incorporated a Farady cage around the control room itself.

The collapse in 1988 was found to be due to unanticipated stresses which cracked a hidden, yet weight- and stress-supporting steel connector plate, in the support structure of the massive telescope.

The debris from the collapse was cleared by June 1989, and West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd would pioneer a campaign in Congress to replace it with the Green Bank Telescope, construction for which began in 1990.

NRAO suspended operations at this telescope and funding was rerouted to the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) instead.

"[14] Recipients have included Fred Hoyle, Charles Townes, Edward M. Purcell, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Philip Morrison, Vera Rubin, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Frank J.