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New Book by U.California-Santa Barbara Historian ExaminesCitizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the Space Age (Forwarded)



 
 
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Old April 29th 08, 02:31 AM posted to sci.space.history
Andrew Yee
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Default New Book by U.California-Santa Barbara Historian ExaminesCitizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the Space Age (Forwarded)

University of California-Santa Barbara

CONTACT

Andrea Estrada, 805-893-4620

FEATURED RESEARCHERS

W. Patrick McCray, 805-893-2665

April 22, 2008

New Book by UCSB Historian Examines Citizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the
Space Age

Santa Barbara, Calif. -- When the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik
in 1957, thousands of people around the world seized the opportunity to
become citizen-scientists and take an active part in the dawning space
age. Known as Moonwatchers, these teenagers, homemakers, schoolteachers,
and otherwise amateur astronomers provided professional astronomers with
critical and otherwise unavailable information about the satellite's
movement. In a new book published this week titled "Keep Watching the
Skies!: The Story of Operation Moonwatch and the Dawn of the Space Age"
(Princeton University Press, 2008), W. Patrick McCray, a professor of
history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, tells the story of
this network of pioneers who participated in what is perhaps the greatest
science endeavor of the 20th century.

"Until professionally manned optical tracking stations came online in
1958, the Moonwatchers played a crucial role in providing key
information," said McCray. "And even after the optical tracking stations
became operational, the Moonwatchers still provided important
information."

Established a year before the Sputnik launch, the Operation Moonwatch
program was a formal initiative of the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory (SAO) located in Cambridge, Mass. Its goal was to enlist the
aid of citizen-scientists in the efforts of the observatory's professional
astronomers to track the first satellites.

Whether in California, Indiana, New York, or anywhere else in the world
where the SAO had established optical tracking stations, Moonwatch teams
would use their telescopes to gather data regarding Sputnik's location and
transmit their findings to the observatory in Cambridge. Scientists there
would compare the Moonwatchers' findings with the predictions calculated
by the observatory's computers.

Moonwatching became a serious endeavor, according to McCray, with teams
creating their own logos and stationary and holding open houses for people
who wanted to learn more about Sputnik and satellites in general. Many
team members sported Moonwatch pins provided by Convair, the United States
aerospace company that developed and manufactured -- among other missiles,
rockets, and aircraft -- the first-generation intercontinental ballistic
missile. In addition, Moonwatch teams participated in special practice
drills to test their accuracy and efficiency.

"Civil Air Patrol planes would fly over a designated practice area
trailing a length of clothesline to which a toilet plunger was attached at
the end. A light fixed inside the rubber end of the plunger simulated the
appearance of a satellite," said McCray.

Drawing on previously unexamined letters, photos, scrapbooks, and
interviews, McCray recreates a pivotal event from a perspective never
before examined -- that of ordinary people who jumped at the chance to
take part in the excitement of space exploration.

McCray specializes in American science during the Cold War, the history of
modern physical science and technology, and the history of early modern
craft technologies. He is also a researcher at UCSB's Center for
Nanotechnology in Society. He received his Ph.D. from the University of
Arizona in 1996. He is the author of the "Giant Telescopes: Astronomical
Ambition and the Promise of Technology" (Harvard University Press, 2004)
and "Glassmaking in Renaissance Venice: The Fragile Craft" (Ashgate
Publishing, 1999). His current research on nanotechnology considers recent
developments in nanoelectronics and how new developments in areas such as
quantum dots and spintroncs fit into the larger history of the United
States electronics industry. In addition, McCray is at work on a new book
that examines the history of various exploratory technologies in the
1970's and 80's, including nanotechnology and space exploration.

RELATED LINKS

* W. Patrick McCray
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/people/p...?account_id=14
* Princeton U. Press
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8645.html


  #2  
Old April 29th 08, 04:50 AM posted to sci.space.history
Pat Flannery
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Posts: 18,465
Default New Book by U.California-Santa Barbara Historian Examines Citizen-Scientistsand the Dawn of the Space Age (Forwarded)



Andrew Yee wrote:

Santa Barbara, Calif. -- When the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik
in 1957, thousands of people around the world seized the opportunity to
become citizen-scientists and take an active part in the dawning space
age. Known as Moonwatchers, these teenagers, homemakers, schoolteachers,
and otherwise amateur astronomers provided professional astronomers with
critical and otherwise unavailable information about the satellite's
movement.


The Moonwatch telescopes were pretty neat in themselves, being
fabricated out of surplus parts:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/skyte...e/9313906.html
Moonwatchers in action:
http://www.bristolastronomy.org/file...pril031958.jpg
Edmund Scientific used to market optic kits to make these from.

Pat
 




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