Tatel Telescope under construction, 1958. Workers using cranes to build the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)'s first radio telescope, the 85-foot Howard E. Tatel telescope. This 85-foot telescope arrived in Green Bank as a kit from the Blaw-Knox Corporation of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1958. Assembly was quick, and the Tatel began observing on 13 February 1959. In 1960 it became famous for performing the world's first SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) observations under the direction of Frank Drake.