Accessory To War
The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang, 2018, BvtnLib 358.8 TYS
The connections are shared technology, science, funding and researchers. This could have been a much shorter book, while including many more technology examples; most of it is ancient history and contemporary politics. Uneven, some is carefully referenced, some asserted without citations. I skimmed most of it, but focused on Chapter 6, "Detection Stories".
- p154-155 Jasons formed in 1960, summertime meetings. An unnamed Jason "thought up" adaptive optics? Wikipedia credits Horace Babcock in 1953.
- p181 Arecibo completed in 1963, funded and operated by DoD for Project Defender until 1969.
p188 Cavity magnetron patented by Russians in 1920s (cite Brown Radar History of World War II)
- p193 cite note 52: 14 tonnes of crated documents in vaulted room in "mine shaft", entrance dynamited and sealed.
- p196 Dopper radar can distinguish moving aircraft from stationary chaff. (cite Brown)
- p205 1960 CORONA KH-1 8 meter resolution, 1966 KH-8 GAMBIT 15 centimeters, 1976 KH-11 KENNAN with first spysat CCD was 2 meters.
- p209 Jodrell Bank 1957 Mark I steerable radiotelescope mounted on two WW1 battleship gun turret bearing assemblies.
- p213 Jodrell Bank tracked Pioneer 5 into solar orbit, 312 day period ( → 0.9 AU semimajor axis )
p215 1964 to 1970 Vela Hotel gamma detectors, "4.25" days (actually 112 hours, 118,000 km near-circular)