SATELLITE -TRACKING PROGRAM — HAYES 327 



buildings, and, above all, engineering studies to improve operation 

 of both the camera and the timing system. These and other modifica- 

 tions of the network would be carried out when the program was 

 funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's grant 

 to the Observatory. 



Meanwhile, however, the observational achievements of the system 

 were notable. From July through September of 1958 — the first quar- 

 terly period when all of the stations were operational — the stations 

 reported 480 observations of four satellites : 1958 Alpha, 1958 81, 1958 

 82, and 1958 Epsilon. The total for each station was as follows : 



New Mexico 71 Peru 86 



South Africa 73 Iran 18 



Australia 62 Curagao 47 



Spain 40 Florida 14 



Japan 44 Argentina 3 



India 1 Hawaii 45 



During April and May of 1959, shortly before the close of the IGC, 

 the stations recorded the following number of observations: 



New Mexico 160 Peru 210 



South Africa 79 Iran 68 



Australia 237 Curagao 74 



Spain 130 Florida 57 



Japan 94 Argentina 86 



India 149 Hawaii 105 



In part, of course, this large increase was a consequence of the 

 number of satellites in orbit ; in part, also, it was the result of vastly 

 improved predictions and observing techniques. 



From November 1957 through June 1959, the stations made the total 

 observations shown in table 2. 



The outstanding single achievement was photographing the Van- 

 guard experimental sphere (1958 /32). This object, 6 inches in diam- 

 eter, was filmed at a distance of 2,400 miles, first by the station in 

 Woomera, Australia, and subsequently, at comparable ranges, by 

 several others. 



THE STATION OBSERVERS 



Originally, the Observatory had determined that two observers at 

 each station would be a sufficient number, although in fact in the very 

 early days usually each station was manned by only one. This meant 

 that the observer had to be an electrician, a mechanic, a maintenance 

 man, a carpenter, a computer, and, of course, an observer. Typically, 

 he made two or three observations a night. 



Even when each station w^as staffed with two men, the increasing 

 load proved to be too much, so that by mid-1958, the Observatory had 

 decided that at least three trained observers were necessary at each 

 station to ensure continuous and efficient operation. As a consequence, 



766-746 — 65 23 



