328 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 64 



Table 2. — Num'ber of Baker-Nunn Observations (Separated hy More Than S 

 Minutes) October 1957 thru June 1959 



a recruiting program was initiated to find new men for the job. In- 

 quiries were circulated to astronomical and associated scientific de- 

 partments of major American colleges and universities, and courtesy 

 notices were placed in various technical publications. The response 

 was slow, and many of those who applied were not suited for the work. 

 Meanwhile, a second observer training program in New Mexico began 

 in late January 1958, with Dr. Henize and Messrs. Burkhead and 

 Ledwith instructing the apprentices. New training sessions continued 

 m the months that followed, so that by July 1959 a total of 82 pro- 

 spective observers had been instructed in the use of the camera and its 

 related equipment. 



The original pattern of personalities and of work at the station was 

 largely set by the character of the first observers. In the early months, 

 running a Baker-Nunn camera station was very much a do-it-yourself 

 project, a one-man project, at best a two-man project. The program 

 demanded, and received, the devoted efforts of men who were willing 

 tx) work 80 to 100 hours a week. 



Enthusiasm was an obvious necessity as were considerable intelli- 

 gence and an ability to understand and work with mechanical things. 

 Perhaps the most important characteristic required was a sense of 

 humor, for it often proved the buffer against circumstances that might 

 otherwise have been unbearable. 



