290 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



these and similar organizations might be willing to participate in the 

 satellite program. When the problem was presented to Miss Grace 

 C. Scholz (now Mrs. Armand Spitz) of the League, she helped organ- 

 ize a committee to recruit observers and work out techniques and 

 instrumentation. 



In February 1956 the Smithsonian appointed Dr. Armand N. Spitz, 

 director of the Spitz Laboratories in Yorklyn, Del., and inventor of the 

 Spitz Planetarium, to coordinate these activities. By that time the 

 basic work of the teams had been fairly well specified: using only 

 standard binoculars or simple monoculars and stopwatches, they were 

 to locate and clock man's first efforts to conquer space. In the months 

 to follow more sophisticated instrumentation was gradually developed. 



The Astronomical League circulated among the amateur astrono- 

 mers a plea for volunteers to participate in the visual observing pro- 

 gram. Because this was perhaps the first opportunity for amateur 

 scientists to take part in the IGY and contribute to it data of signifi- 

 cant value, the response was immediate. 



Although the program was to be operated on a volunteer basis, 

 each individual member had to be selected for his skill and his willing- 

 ness to accept responsibility and to undertake what would prove to be 

 a fairly arduous and time-consuming job. His only reward was the 

 knowledge that his work would be of unquestioned scientific value and 

 that without his effort and that of hundreds like him the satellites 

 might become lost for scientific observation. 



Dr. Spitz lectured to interested groups throughout the country, 

 not only to recruit individuals for the visual observing program, but 

 also to tell the general public something about the U.S. satellite 

 program and to enlist the support of industry. People craved in- 

 formation about space exploration, which was now moving out of 

 the realm of science fiction into the arena of everyday reality. To 

 his efforts were added those of Whipple and Hynek, who used every 

 opportunity during their many journeys across the United States to 

 inform the public of plans for and progress toward the launching 

 and tracking of IGY satellites. In a sense, these three and other 

 members of the Smithsonian staff served as liaison officers between 

 the scientific community and the general public, preparing them to 

 accept, understand, and appreciate the events that were to begin so 

 suddenly and dramatically on October 4, 1957, with the successful 

 orbiting of the Russian satellite Sputnik I. 



COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATIONS 



There remained two other important phases of the program to be 

 considered: computations and communications. Computations for 

 operational purposes involved devising means of deriving from ob- 



