David Chavez, age 14, of Middletown, Ohio, for his question:

WHO MANAGES THE NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY?

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility used by scientists throughout the United States. It is financed by the National Science Foundation and is operated by the Associated Universities, Inc., an association of nine U.S. universities. Standing on 2,700 acres of land near Green Bank, W.Va., the observatory has scientific offices in Charlottesville, Va.

The NRAO was founded in 1956 by the National Science Foundation to provide radio telescopes that are usually too expensive and complex to be built by individual universities.

Equipment at NRAO includes six radio telescopes. Each telescope has a large, dish shaped metal mirror used to receive radio signals from space. The largest telescope has a mirror 300 feet in diameter. Other telescopes include one with a 140 foot mirror, three with 85 foot mirrors and one with a 36 foot mirror.

Radio signals from the telescopes are amplified and strengthened by electronic equipment. The amplified signals are recorded for study.