348 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 63 



five breaks representing the star images to find the point that was 

 the satellite image; at that time the camera was simply matching 

 the apparent motion of the satellite across the sky. Later, the oscil- 

 lating technique was used experimentally, but then abandoned as un- 

 necessary. 



This was, then, a simultaneous process of developing rather in- 

 volved technical methods and of teaching them to one another. By 

 the end of the first training session, profiting from the experience and 

 knowledge gained in those 6 weeks, the Observatory was able to plan 

 a more efficient and more thorough program for the next group of 

 observers who came through Cambridge and New Mexico early in 

 1958. 



THE BAKER-NUNN CAMERA STATIONS 



As each Baker-Nunn camera was completed and tested at the Boiler 

 and Chivens plant in South Pasadena, it was couriered by a member 

 of the Observatory staff, usually on a MATS plane, to the station 

 for which it was intended. Table 1 indicates the schedule of ship- 

 ment, the dates of first successful observations, and the object photo- 

 graphed. By mid-1958 the Observatory could announce that all 12 

 Baker-Nunn camera stations were operational. 



Table 1. — Shipping schedule of Baker-Nunn cameras and first successful 



observations 



I The designation for the first satellites was decided by Dr. Whipple, as later explained in the Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Astrophysics, vol. 2, No. 10, p. 189 (1958): "Notation system for satellites. The tentative 

 system of notation, suggested by Whipple, identifies each artificial earth satellite in the following manner: 

 the year of launching is followed by a letter of the Greek alphabet to indicate the order of the satellite's 

 launching within the year, and, when more than one object is observed from one launching, a number is 

 added to indicate relative brightness. When the orbiting rocliet assembly or assemblies from one launching 

 are referred to as a whole, or when the components are not distinguished nor considered separately, the 

 Greek letter is spelled out and the succeeding number is omitted." 



