Tracking Telescopes at White Sands Missile Range

Tracking Telescopes at White Sands Missile Range. . Early missile flight researchers and engineers focused on two main questions during the formative decades of rocket and missile development at WSMR: "Where did it go?" and "What was it doing?" In addition to electronic instrumentation such as radar, scientists used optical instruments to not only track flight paths, but to also understand their physical behaviors, such as the rocket flame and vertical/horizontal position in flight. Tracking telescopes were developed to serve this purpose. These instruments record flight phenomena and behaviors at high magnification; data that proved vital for design improvements., After World War II, Dr. James B. Edson, an astronomer and physicist was working at the Army's Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Along with brother-in-law and fellow astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, Dr. Edson was a pioneer in applying the tools of astronomy and planetary observation methods to missile flight research. He came up with the concept of a tracking telescope while studying V-2 rocket fuel combustion for his doctoral dissertation. Dr. Edson's first model, the Type 1 (or T-1), nicknamed "Little Bright Eyes", consisted of a pair of 4.5-inch refracting telescopes and a high-speed film camera mounted to a surplus motorized U.S. Army 45-mm gun mount. Dr. Edson brought the new device to WSMR and directed a team of technicians to film a V2 launch from Fox Site (also called F-Star site) in late July of 1946. The T-1's first images were unimpressive, but Tombaugh, an expert in optics, was recruited to implement design and methodological changes that dramatically improved results with each V-2 flight. On December 5, 1946, "Bright Eyes" finally produced detailed, high-altitude V-2 imagery that impressed military leaders and solidified the tracking telescope's future. Channeling the ambitions of early explorers, Dr. Edson proclaimed that these instruments had opened "... a new region of scientific wealth.", The initial five tracking telescopes, including the T-4 here, were developed within a a short period. They led the way in advancing the utility of optical data. T-1 and T-3 tracking telescopes were sited 6 miles east and 13 miles west (respectively) of Army Launch Area 1 (now LC- 33), as morning and afternoon firings required a different observation angle due to the sun's effect on visibility. The T-2 telescope utilized a spectrograph to analyze fuel output. It was located closest to the launch site. T-4 was sited 40 miles north, 9,000 feet up in the Sacramento Mountains, obtaining exceptionally clear long distance data. Lastly, T-5 was located 10 miles from the launch area, near Highway 70, on a promontory., During a typical test, a tracking telescope operator aka "tracker" would train the motorized mount on the missile and film it at high magnification for later interpretation and analysis. The footage would depict small flight details and behaviors that were otherwise invisible from the ground. Along with subtle flight detail imagery, the Intercept Ground Optical Recorder (IGOR) telescope (the T-5's successor), located behind the T-4, also recorded how missiles hit their targets or the distance between a missile and its intended target when it missed., Tracking telescopes have become vital tools at WSMR and were quickly adopted by the NASA space program, providing some of the most dramatic and valuable footage in American military and aviation history., Captions , Top: Dr. James Edson (farthest left) and his crew pose in front of "Little Bright Eyes" at WSMR's Fox Site (1946). Above left: Detail of a frame of T-1 footage of a V-2 rocket flight (ca. 1947). Above center: Tracking telescope footage of an MGR- 1 Honest John rocket in front of the Moon. Above right: T-4 Telescope arriving at WSMR before transport to Mule Peak site in the Sacramento Mountains (1948). , Above: Examples of WSMR tracking telescopes: the T-1 (left), T-5, called the "Twin 10" (middle), and IGOR (right)., Courtesy of WSMR Cultural Resources Program