space-flown Baker-Nunn test glass on commemorative plaque
Date: 1957-1985
Inventory Number: 2006-1-0116
Classification: Plaque
Subject:
User: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (founded 1958)
Inventor: James G. Baker (1914 - 2005)
Inventor: Joseph Nunn (1905 - 1968)
User: Fred L. Whipple (1906 - 2004)
User: J. Allen Hynek (1910 - 1986)
User: Karl G. Henize (1926 - 1993)
Maker: Perkin-Elmer Company (1937-present)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
30.6 × 20.4 × 5.1 cm (12 1/16 × 8 1/16 × 2 in.)
Description:
A cube-shaped test glass from the objective of the first Baker-Nunn satellite tracking camera. It is mounted on a wooden plaque that was presented to the Smithsonsian Astrophysical Observatory by NASA on December 12, 1985.
SignedNational Aeronautics and Space Administration
InscribedText on primary brass plaque: This test glass, from the objective lens of the first Baker-Nunn satellite tracking camera developed by the Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory in 1957, was carried into space aboard space shuttle flight 51-F by scientist-astronaut Dr. Karl Henize, astronomer-in-charge of Smithsonian's tracking network from 1956 to 1961. Also on board STS 51-F, which orbited earth July 29 to August 5, 1985, was the small helium-cooled infrared telescope (IRT) developed by Smithsonian in collaboration with the University of Arizona and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
on secondary plaque, below main one: Presented to / The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory / by / the National Aeronautics and Space Administration / December 12, 1985
on secondary plaque, below main one: Presented to / The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory / by / the National Aeronautics and Space Administration / December 12, 1985
Historical AttributesThe Baker-Nunn Satellite Tracking Camera took its name from its principal creators: Dr. James G. Baker of the Harvard College Observatory and an optical consultant to the Perkin-Elmer Corporation of Norwalk, Connecticut, and Joseph Nunn of South Pasadena, California. Baker designed the camera and Perkin-Elmer fabricated the optics. Nunn designed the mechanical fixtures of the camera, which were built by the Boller and Chivens Company of South Pasadena. Work on the camera was supervised by Fred Whipple and J. Allen Hynek of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Karl G. Henize was a senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory from 1956 to 1959. He was in charge the establishment and operation of a global network of 12 photographic satellite tracking stations for the Baker-Nunn satellite tracking program. He became an scientist-astronaut for NASA in 1967. Dr. Henize was a mission specialist on the Spacelab-2 mission (STS 51-F) which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 29, 1985.
Karl G. Henize was a senior astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory from 1956 to 1959. He was in charge the establishment and operation of a global network of 12 photographic satellite tracking stations for the Baker-Nunn satellite tracking program. He became an scientist-astronaut for NASA in 1967. Dr. Henize was a mission specialist on the Spacelab-2 mission (STS 51-F) which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 29, 1985.