SATELLITE-TRACKING PROGRAM — HAYES 333 



That team was not to make its first observation of Sputnik I mitil 

 October 15. 



Campbell then went to the IGY headquarters in Washington, where 

 for a few hours he served as liaison officer between the Observatory and 

 the scientists in Washington who were attempting to determine the 

 orbit of Sputnik I from the little information available. Early the 

 following morning he flew to Boston. 



Meanwhile, Dr. Wliipple had arrived at Logan Airport in Boston 

 at about 6 :30 p.m. Since evidently no effort had been made to con- 

 tact him while he was on the plane, he took a taxi directly to his home 

 in Belmont. His wife told him the news, and he immediately went 

 to the Observatory, where he stayed until four in the morning, orga- 

 nizing the activities of dozens of people, meeting with the press, and 

 otherwise dealing with the initial problems of the program. 



INITIAL PROBLEMS 



The satellite-tracking program faced a number of pressing prob- 

 lems. The first of these was communications. On October 4 there 

 was not a single TWX (teletypewriter exchange) machine installed 

 in the communications room; in fact, because extensive alterations 

 were being made to the offices at Kittredge Hall, there was not even a 

 communications room. Charles M. Peterson pulled every string in 

 his bow, and late that night the first teletype machine was in operation, 

 supplemented, of course, by telephone communications. 



The next need was to track the satellite. The first Baker-Nunn 

 camera to be assembled at the Boiler and Chivens plant in South 

 Pasadena, Calif., was not operational on the night of October 4. 

 It had been disassembled and was scattered all over the plant ; some 

 of the gears and other intricate parts had been sent back to contractors 

 for remachining or refinishing. When Dr. Hynek reported to the 

 staff members in South Pasadena that the Russians had launched a 

 satellite, work had progressed so far that they discussed the possibility 

 of readying the camera for a Saturday night observation of the satel- 

 lite. Only word from Dr. "Wliipple that the orbit was definitely 

 poorly situated for observations in Pasadena led to their canceling this 

 plan. Two days later, Boiler and Chivens set Wednesday afternoon 

 of October 9 as the deadline for the completion of an operational 

 camera. 



Meanwhile, the Observatory received observations of a sort on the 

 evening of October 4, and early the next morning fairly good obser- 

 vations from the Geophysical Institute in College, Alaska. From 

 these data the Observatory was able to advise Moonwatch teams when 

 and where they might be able to sight the satellite. Within a few 

 days a number of Moonwatch teams sent good observations, although 

 actually not of the payload but of its rocket carrier. 



