SATELLITE -TRACKING PROGRAM — HAYES 319 



for example, bought the telescopes and supplied the local Moonwatch 

 team witli radio and all other necessary equipment. Another in- 

 stituted a telephone-answering service, so set up in the factory that 

 one could dial a number for satellite information. Every day the 

 tapes were changed, and callers could learn where the satellite was 

 and whether it could be seen locally. The tapes were done in language 

 that everyone could understand. The service started with 1 telephone ; 

 before it was through, there were 12 automatic telephone-answering 

 lines. In this way, the entire community became involved in the 

 Moonwatch program. Such companies did not use Moonwatch to 

 advertise their products or services ; rather, their motives were good 

 will and a wish to do something for the community. 



The greatest impact of Moonwatch was on youth. Indeed, a few 

 teams in the United States were set up and successfully operated 

 entirely by young people. 



One team in the Southwest was started by a schoolteacher who 

 instructed a course in general science. The town had a considerable 

 problem of juvenile delinquency, and school officials frowned on any 

 activity that would bring the children together at night. Neverthe- 

 less, the teacher persevered in setting up the team, and through it gen- 

 erated sufficient interest in science and in satellite tracking not only 

 to achieve a high technical level but also to absorb profitably the 

 energies of dozens of children who might otherwise have been less well 

 employed. In time, the local high school took part in Moonwatch 

 activities and the team was permitted to build a permanent station 

 on top of the school building. Over a period of years, the incidence 

 of juvenile delinquency sharply declined and the Avhole community 

 benefited from the project. 



In another town, a 79-year-old woman felt the challenge of space 

 and created a Moonwatch team consisting of children and parents 

 who observed side by side. She instilled so much enthusiasm for 

 science among these children that many of them went on to college 

 to major in physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Perhaps the most 

 remarkable aspect of her achievement was that she was totally blind. 



At the other extreme were teams primarily manned by academicians. 

 One, for example, drew chiefly from the oceanogi'aphy staff of a large 

 university. Another team was established by a young professor in 

 a Texas college that had no department of astronomy. The team at- 

 tained great excellence in its observations; the professor built a larger 

 telescope of his own, and so stimulated interest in both the community 

 and in the college that the latter now has an observatory of profes- 

 sional status. 



All of these Moonwatch teams had similar problems involving 

 money, equipment, personnel, observing techniques, and communica- 

 tions with Cambridge. Many of them solved these problems in their 



