[FPSPACE] FW: New Book Examines Citizen-Scientists and the Dawn of the Space Age

[LARRY KLAES]

>From: Ron Baalke <baalke at ZAGAMI.JPL.NASA.GOV>
>Reply-To: History of Astronomy Discussion Group <HASTRO-L at listserv.wvu.edu>
>To: HASTRO-L at listserv.wvu.edu
>Subject: [HASTRO-L] New Book Examines Citizen-Scientists and the Dawn of 
>the Space Age
>Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:25:49 -0700
>
>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/person.php?account_id=14
>* Princeton U. Press
>   http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8645.html