The world from 78 miles up

Lynn Poole introduces this program by showing photos of early Wright brothers' planes, a Martin 404, and a rocket. Clyde Holliday, a senior engineer at Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab, describes the Aerobee sounding rocket, developed by Aerojet Engineering Corp. in cooperation with the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance. Holliday shows a diagram of the 1,000 lb., 20-foot Aerobee as he explains its specifications and component parts. A film details a typical Aerobee preparation and take-off at White Sands proving ground in New Mexico. Holliday displays a still camera, installed in two rockets, that photographed one picture every two seconds of the upper atmosphere. Several photos from 70 miles up create a 1,400-mile panorama of the U.S. southwest. The camera is justified as a means to determine the rocket's position in space for properly reading data, to obtain meteorological data, and to perform long-range reconnaissance. Holliday also developed a 35 mm. motion picture camera that records views on either side of the rocket. He displays the internal workings of the movie camera in operation, a lens from the camera, and a motion picture taken by the camera. A film captures the preparation and launching of a V-2 rocket, including Holliday inserting the camera into the rocket. Camera views of the earth from 78 miles up reveal the curvature of the earth, the Gulf of California, and other distinctive landmarks.