Interview with George Withbroe, retired science program director at NASA. Withbroe provides an overview of his childhood in Wisconsin where he enjoyed hunting and archery with his family. He discusses his undergraduate studies at MIT, which he remembers as being a highly competitive environment. Withbroe explains the impact of Sputnik on his interest in space science, leading him to pursue graduate studies in astronomy at the University of Michigan. He recalls discovering the joy of teaching during this time, as well as a memorable summer job at the NASA Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center). Withbroe then describes his postdoctoral position at Harvard, working on the satellite program and the Orbiting Solar Observatories. He recounts his transition to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and his involvement in Skylab. Withbroe discusses going back to Harvard where he served as director of the Solar and Stellar Physics Division, before moving to NASA as the Director of the Space Physics Division. Withbroe covers topics such as securing funding for research, collaborations with the international scientific community, and the importance of diversity in science. He discusses his retirement from NASA and continuing his research at George Mason University. The interview concludes with Withbroe’s reflections on the many advisory committees he has served on, as well as his thoughts on the relationship between religion and science.
In this interview George Field discusses topics such as: his time at the University of California, Berkeley; Charles Townes; Lick Observatory; working with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); radio astronomy work with Ed Purcell; detecting neutral hydrogen gas at big red shifts; Fred Whipple; moving to the Harvard College Observatory; planning for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Charles Lundquist; Riccardo Giacconi; Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory; Northeast Radio Observatory Corporation (NEROC); orbiting solar observatories (OSOs); Dave Challinor; Bart Bok.
In this interview, Andrea Dupree discusses topics such as: her family background and childhood; doing her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College; Janet Guernsey; C. P. Snow; becoming interested in astronomy; what is was like being a woman and fitting into the physics profession and dealing with gender inequality; Sarah Hill; Allan Sandage; Hans Bethe; Phil Morrison; Otto Struve; going to the Royal Greenwich Observatory for a summer; Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin; Dorrit Hoffleit; variable star fields; deciding to go to Berkeley for graduate school; Ivan King; Hyron Spinrad; Lick Observatory; coming back to Harvard University after a year; George Wallerstein; William Liller; Leo Goldberg; her affiliation with the American Astronomical Society (AAS); Don Osterbrock; Simon "Pete" Worden; Owen Chamberlain; Alex Dalgarno; Harvard College Observatory; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Ed Lilley; solar physics; ionization rates; Herb Friedman; Dick Tousey; Henry Smith; stellar atmospheres; Fred Whipple; Donald Menzel; Margaret Burbidge; orbiting solar observatories (OSO); Skylab program; Lyman Spitzer; Robert Noyes; Henry Norris Russell; International Astronomical Union (IAU); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); George Field; Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO); Eric Chaisson; Jesse Greenstein; Celescope.
A joint interview with Reuben H. Gablehouse and Fred Dolder covers the Ball Brothers contracts for the Orbiting Solar Observatory (OSO), telemetry problems, and their work on Skylab. The interview principally covers Ball Brothers' contracts for and development of the early OSOs from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. In this period Dolder served as Program Manager for OSO. Significant topics include: evolution of the original OSO proposal; the relationship of John Lindsay of Goddard (the contracting agency for OSO) with Ball Brothers; design changes relating to pointing controls, telemetry and structural configuration; loss of the AOSO contract; and Ball Brothers' work on Skylab.
