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(ATMoB:Discuss) Re: Optic Question with pics this time.
Don't worry Gary, I have also forgotten to make attachments.
The size and shape of the lens look somewhat familiar. During the cold war,
a number of companies like Itek, Perkin-Elmer, and Kodak built competitive
or complimentary systems so that success of a mission was assured. A number
of ATMOB members were involved from WWII until 1995.
I made elements 1 and 2 of a 60-inch EFL f/5.6 that had an aperture of
about 14 inches. It was called HAPL ( High Altitude Photographic Lens) and
a number of variations were made. The Corona Program was declassified at
the start of the Clinton administration. You can read about it - the author
is Curtis Peebles. To my knowledge, HAPL results are still classified, but
not the hardware. A Corona spacecraft is on exhibit at Smithsonian Air &
Space Museum. The yellow image cast due to the thickness of the glass also
looks familiar from your picture. Two differences: the outer flange was
round and the cell was polished bright. The cell was titanium. One was
exhibited without details at BMOS in the 1980's. and later moved to the
Wright-Patterson AFB museum. Dr. Willem Brouwer's
( a former ATMOB member) design used an aspheric front element and was very
difficult to make to the diffraction limit. Dr. Brouwer was fired and Dr.
Robert Hopkins of Univ. of Rochester founded Tropel to make an
all-spherical ( and heavier) design.
In 1962 , when Nikita Kruschev was in power, I estimated that the lens
could resolve down to 4-inches under ideal conditions! Dr. Brouwer founded
Diffraction Limited in Bedford and I later refigured a lens to
specifications while working there. We went on to make lenses for the SR-71
"Blackbird" with nine elements with three aspheres.
There are many, many untold stories but the best I heard came from a
project manager and close friend. It happened around 1963.
The first HAPL was to be tested at Palestine, Texas, from a high-altitude
balloon at the same time another was readied for the launch pad. The
spacecraft frame was manufactured at an aircraft factory in Maine and was
made of magnesium for light-weight. Launch time for the balloon approached
and the lens was not ready. A decision was made to load the craft with
ballast , some temperature sensors, and the large battery to power the
transmitter. The balloon was launched to above 100,000 feet and
transmitted data. The military brass were elated. It was time to cut loose
and deploy the parachute.
High winds caused the gondola to rock violently and the cutaway was badly
timed. The parachute failed and at the same time, the battery shorted,
igniting the magnesium. A spectacular fireball headed straight down and
impacted in the desert. Many people saw it from miles away. Inside the
blackened crater, the spacecraft was consumed so that only ashes and
charred wiring remained. Hundreds of people saw the fireball, a few thought
it was a flying saucer and raced toward the landing site. Ahead of them was
a huge USAF trailer-van and a recovery team. Every trace of ash was
shoveled into the van and the team quickly spirited away as the
first spectators arrived. They found a circular crater and noted that the
ground was warm to the touch.
Thus arose many of the most convincing flying saucer reports in the
Southwest. The military could not confirm or deny the event because the
project was top secret. The story has multiplied into many variations
because there were so many untrained observers.
There were other huge lenses made at BU before Itek was founded. Dr. James
Baker lives in Bedford, NH and would be the greatest authority.
Where did you get the lens? Any other details?
If it is a HAPL , I know enough to say it is only valuable as a museum
piece. I believe about sixteen were produced and were retired when the "Big
Birds" were orbited.
Most of the glasses are high quality but some are discontinued. The
retainer rings probably are secured with Loctite, epoxy, or RTV adhesive
sealant.
You could make a Cyclops lens with a group of low-power eyepieces placed at
the focal plane for binocular viewing by two or more observers. Others have
done this with the 12-inch Kodak Aero-Ektar.
At 04:36 PM 9/21/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>Paul,
>
>I apologise for sending this without the attachments. As I just realized
>this a few moments ago. My brain must not be connected today.
>
>Thanks for your time,
>Gary
>
>
>I was given your name as a possible contact from Bob Collara, among others
>at the clubhouse after showing him an ariel lens at the clubhouse last
>night. He was also good enough to haul it in and onto the floor for general
>discussion and Ooos and Ahhhs last night with the rest of the gang.
>
>When I first heard of this monster I was hoping to remove some of the
>elements to make a refractor from them. But upon seeing it, and hefting it
>around now, I think I am over my head. But befor I attempt to open it on my
>own, I was hoping to get some idea if this is any kind of a do-able ATM
>project, sell/trade it for a more manageable project, or if I should just
>forget about it like I have done with other finds in the past. One was a 12
>inch mirror I acquired which turned out to be a cored hindlesphere. Since
>the retaining rings seem to be adhesively fixed, like Locktite, just poping
>the rings appears to be a major "high persuasion tool" step.
>
>The images enclosed show size but not the 190 pound weight (biglens4a.jpg,
>biglens3a.jpg). They also show an image through the lens across the street
>(biglens1a.jpg) and of the field being viewed (biglens2a.jpg), (green circle
>in biglens2a.jpg) with a digital camera at about 57 inches behind the rear
>of the lens.
>
>Now I realize you don't know me from a hole in the ground. And that you
>probably know nothing about this boat anchor. So this lens could end up like
>my Photometrics THX31133 ccd IC200 Series 200 camera head project, shelved
>awaiting information on how to proceed.
>
>Thanks for your time.
>
>Gary Hampel, Atmob
>hampel (a) ma.ultranet dot com
>
>
>