James G. Baker
James Gilbert Baker (born November 11, 1914 in Louisville , Kentucky , USA , † June 29, 2005 in Bedford , New Hampshire , USA) was an American astronomer and optician. He was the developer of the satellite camera Baker-Nunn and other optical systems for the aviation and aerospace .
Life
After a year of service in World War II , he received his doctorate in astronomy at Harvard College Observatory in 1942 and tested and designed lenses for aerial cameras for the army and for remote sensing . One of his superiors in the US Army described him as "the most versatile optical designer known to this command."
After 1945 Baker worked for the Air Force Photographic Laboratory, for Perkin-Elmer , Eastman Kodak and finally at Boston University (Optical Research Laboratory, BUORL). From 1955 he developed almost all lenses for US aerial reconnaissance. In addition to the camera systems of the U-2 , he was also responsible for the optics of the Samos satellites. A special version of the Samos camera was created for NASA in 1966-67 for photographic exploration of the moon and the selection of the Apollo landing sites.
In the 1950s, Dr. Baker also dealt with purely astronomical topics and published on Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes and a Super Schmidt camera for the observation of meteors . Together with the mechanic Joseph Nunn , he developed the Baker-Nunn camera in 1957 , whose multi-axis system was to track the satellite for the first time. The optics were created with computer support, which was pioneering work at the time.
The "Baker-Nunn" was a contribution of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) for the IGY 1957/58 ( International Geophysical Year ) and was used to determine the orbit of the first Russian and US satellites, starting with Sputnik 1 and the Explorer series.
Thanks to the bright optics (1: 1, 50 cm), the technology of the film pressing and the tracking , the camera was extremely precise and was even able to track satellites beyond public visibility (weaker than stars of 6th magnitude ). Around 20 of these cameras, which weighed tons, were manufactured and, in addition to determining the orbit of the Differential Orbit Improvement Program (DOI) of the SAO, were also used for satellite geodesy . At the beginning of the 1960s, the project was a world network testing that with a dozen globally distributed satellite stations , the accuracy reached several meters - then a quality leap for Geodesy by almost a factor of 10th
Honors and memberships
- In 1946, Baker was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .
- In 1948 he received the Medal for Merit , at that time the highest civilian award in the USA.
- 1952 Magellanic Premium
- In 1965 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences .
- In 1970 he became an elected member of the American Philosophical Society .
- In 1984 the asteroid (2549) Baker was named after him.
Web links
- Dr. James G. Baker, Space Pioneer ( September 12, 2006 memento in the Internet Archive )
- James Gilbert Baker, obituary October 2005
- Publications by JG Baker in the Astrophysics Data System
- NK Baker: James Gilbert Baker, 1914-2005. Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society; Vol. 37 (2005), no.4, p. 1545-1546. (Obituary, English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Book of Members 1780 – present, Chapter B. (PDF; 1.2 MB) In: American Academy of Arts and Sciences (amacad.org). Retrieved March 6, 2018 .
- ^ The Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society , website of the APS . Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ Member History: James Gilbert Baker. American Philosophical Society, accessed April 17, 2018 .
- ↑ Minor Planet Circ. 8800
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Baker, James G. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Baker, James Gilbert (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer and optician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 11, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Louisville , Kentucky , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 29, 2005 |
| Place of death | Bedford , New Hampshire , USA |