SATELLITE -TRACKING PROGRAM — HAYES 285 



was to initiate the optical satellite-tracking program by determining 

 the design of the optics and the camera, estimating the cost of long 

 lead-time equipment, negotiating the establisliment of camera stations 

 here and in foreign countries, outlining the Moonwatch organization, 

 and defining the many other aspects of what was to become a very 

 complex project. 



THE HARVARD METEOR PROGRAM 



The tracking plans that Dr. Whipple developed had in consid- 

 erable measure evolved from his experiences with the Harvard Meteor 

 Project. That project had been set up before World War II and 

 then in 1947 vitalized by him with the assistance of Harlan Smith 

 and Eichard E. McCrosky. In 1948 the field program was trans- 

 ferred to New Mexico preparatory to the delivery of the super- 

 Schmidt cameras, which had been specially designed for the project. 



The first intention had been to set up a fairly complex field opera- 

 tion, with even the possibility of moving the cameras from southern 

 New Mexico in winter to northern New Mexico in summer in order 

 to take advantage of the best weather conditions. However, with 

 a very limited budget, supported primarily by Government funds, 

 the fieldwork was gradually simplified. Two stations, 50 miles apart, 

 were established: one at Sacramento Peak and the other at Organ 

 Pass. The stations were simultaneously to photograph a meteor, 

 a technique that would enable the astronomers to determine its height, 

 velocity, deceleration, and direction. 



Since no suitable camera-telescope was available. Dr. Whipple and 

 his staff sketched the idea of a new type to do the job. Dr. Wliipple 

 insisted that the optics of the camera should use glass transparent 

 to the ultraviolet; he felt certain that that glass could be molded 

 into the hemisphere required by the optical design they had in mind. 

 He asked Dr. James G. Baker, who at that time was a consultant 

 to the Perkin-Elmer Corporation of Norwalk, Conn., to work out 

 the design of the camera, and Perkin-Elmer was to manufacture it. 

 Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Standards in Washington agreed 

 to mold the hemispheres. The super-Schmidt ^ that this team created 

 proved a notable success and became the prototype of the Baker-Nunn 

 satellite-tracking camera. 



^The super-Schmidt Is an f/.65 Instrument with an aperture of 12.25 inches and a 

 focal length of 8 inches; the angular diameter of the field of view is 52°. The mirror is 

 23.5 Inches In diameter. The corrector plate has an aspherlc surface. The equatorial 

 mounting of the camera permits it to traclt the stars. A rotating shutter chops the 

 meteor trail on the photographic plate into discrete segments. 



The film on which the meteor is photographed is molded into a hemisphere to match 

 the design of the optical system. This was the first time that photographic film was 

 manufactured In this form, another achievement of the Harvard Meteor Project. 



