I'm always interested to hear from people who were members of Operation Moonwatch or who have something to share about amateur science.
Please take a moment to leave a comment and share a bit of your experience by clicking on the title above. Thanks!
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I don't suppose there is anything wrong with posting the first entry on one's blog. So...here is an inaugural entry.
I just returned from Washington, DC where I gave a talk at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center about Moonwatch and the role of citizen-scientists. I also had a book signing at the National Air and Space Museum. Since, as a kid, I loved NASM, this was a real treat. I was set up in the main gallery, right underneath Sputnik and Explorer. Many people bought copies and, more importantly, I got to interact with a whole bunch of people there to visit the museum.
Leonard David, a writer for Space.com, posted a review of my book at http://www.spacecoalition.com/Book_Reviews.cfm recently. He was in Waco, Texas when Sputnik was launched and recalled trying to construct a Moonwatch telescope from cardboard and old glasses. He wrote: "This is a fascinating look at the dawn of the Space Age – and the ripple effect created by the former Soviet Union’s launching of Sputnik 1 back in October 1958. However, the focus of this book is unique in that it tells the story of how the general public – from teenagers to amateur astronomers and others took part in eying for the first time an artificial satellite of the Earth. Project Moonwatch was an amateur satellite tracking program, created by the Smithsonian’s Astrophysical Observatory. Ultimately, this network of ground observers numbered in the thousands – from rural and large cities in the United States and dozens of locations around the globe. In a very real sense, Project Moonwatch launched the first participatory program in space exploration. McCray digs back in history to the very creation of the network, with key space scientists pondering the benefit of stirring up the juices of “amateur” scientists to eyeball Sputnik as it flew overhead. Project Moonwatch stretched out over nearly two decades, helping to cultivate today’s era of skywatchers. The book ends with the legacy of Moonwatch – and thus becomes far more than a profile of the past. There are waves of space exploration participation activities today and, as McCray points out: “The practice of science is too important to be left just to the professionals.”
Jeanne E. Bishop recently wrote a review of KWTS for Planetarian (for full disclosure - Bishop's father is one if the book's main characters and she provided me with lots of helpful information as I wrote it). In part, she says:
I’m so very glad this book was written…and written well. I have not only lived through the time of Operation Moonwatch, but I lived it as a very close observer. My father, Richard Emmons, was one of the “main players” in the exciting story, serving as one of the first Moonwatch team organizers and leaders. His accounts of activities added to discussions at our dinner table. It was a great pleasure for me to fill gaps in my understanding of the entire Moonwatch effort of 1956-1975...McCray’s book is a wonderful collection of individual stories of Moonwatch team leaders and their teams and also a saga of the political arena of the SAO in the years surrounding the IGY. Planetarium figures and even planetariums named for Moonwatch participants are part of the story. Armand Spitz, Paul Engle, my father, the Charlie Noble Planetarium in Fort Worth—are here... I think all planetarians can benefit by knowing the history of the Moonwatch effort, and this book is an authentic and interesting introduction. Fifty years after the conclusion of Moonwatch, the effort can still instruct on ways to take advantage of student and community enthusiasm for space. My father would have been very pleased."
The Alamogordo Daily News has an article about Moonwatch and Keep Watching the Skies (October 12, 2008). Michael Shinabery, New Mexico Museum of Space History, notes that when Sputnik was launched, "Scopes were already in place on Oct. 4 because 1957-58 was the International Geophysical Year. One of the IGY's goals was to learn how objects such as planets, the sun and comets affect Earth. Author W. Patrick McCray in "Moonwatch: Keep Watching the Skies" (Princeton University Press/2008) cites that "tens of thousands of professional scientists from sixty-seven different nations staffed hundreds of stations around the globe."
From a short review of KWTS in November 2008 Sky & Telescope:
"McCray has combed through a mountain of archived documents, correspondence,and pictures to bring those exciting times back to life. He chronicles the Moonwatch saga from its origin in 1956 to the program's termination 19 years and 400,000 observations later."
Yes I was a moonwatcher, I lived in NYC and was a member of the team. My name is Mary Mconnell Nee Churns. when I saw my Name in an article about your book I was thrilled, I still look upward and while living in Las vegas still see more Stars here than I ever saw in NYC. Over the years I still see an occasional sattwelite slowly drifting over hear.. When I first saw Spunick I noticed the dimming of the light and sime people asid I had to be wrong. then we learned about the tumbling. If you want to reach me YOu can get me at mary_mcconnell@hotmail.com
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