Author
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Topic: Ernest Sternglass, lunar TV tube (1923-2015)
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Robert Pearlman Editor Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-20-2015 11:44 AM
Cornell University reports the death of physicist Ernest Sternglass, whose correspondence as a young physicist with Albert Einstein led to an electron amplification discovery that – two decades later – allowed hundreds of millions to watch live video of Apollo 11 astronauts walking on the moon. Sternglass died of heart failure on Feb. 12 in Ithaca, New York. He was 91. Beyond the space program, his physics research led to safer X-ray equipment using digital imaging, which brings out greater detail than is possible with film, using computer image processing. These systems are now used by nearly every doctor and hospital.As astronaut Neil Armstrong climbed down from the lunar module in July 1969 and walked on the moon, a television camera attached to the moon lander and made by Sternglass’s employer, Westinghouse, captured all the low-light lunar action. Inside the video camera was a highly sensitive TV camera tube, originating from Sternglass’s research. Sternglass had concluded that he had observed a phenomenon that was different from Einstein’s photoelectric effect – for which Einstein won a Nobel Prize in 1921. As a graduate student, Sternglass wrote to Einstein in November 1950, describing the “secondary electron emission” effect that Sternglass had been researching. Einstein replied that his idea seemed reasonable and urged the young physicist to pursue it. Einstein counseled Sternglass not to pursue a career in theoretical physics, lest “the originality be crushed out of him.” The Nobelist encouraged him to pursue his own ideas, writing: “Always keep a cobbler’s job where you can get up in the morning and face yourself that you are doing something useful. Nobody can be a genius and solve the problems of the world every day.” Sternglass took Einstein’s advice and pursued advanced degrees at Cornell in applied physics. The subsequent development of the secondary electron emission theory led to the development of the television camera tube – the so-called image intensifier – that amplified low-light images. The defense department had been using the tube in highly secret spy cameras, but NASA, in the early 1960s, commissioned the company to make similar video cameras for the early moon landings. |
David Carey Member Posts: 782 From: Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 02-20-2015 12:15 PM
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cspg Member Posts: 6210 From: Geneva, Switzerland Registered: May 2006
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posted 02-20-2015 02:04 PM
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Jeff Member Posts: 474 From: Fayetteville, NC, USA Registered: May 2009
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posted 02-20-2015 02:31 PM
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mach3valkyrie Member Posts: 719 From: Albany, Oregon Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 02-20-2015 02:36 PM
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Kite Member Posts: 831 From: Northampton UK Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 02-20-2015 02:45 PM
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JohnPaul56 Member Posts: 180 From: Montclair, NJ, USA Registered: Apr 2010
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posted 02-20-2015 04:48 PM
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star51L Member Posts: 340 From: Vilano Beach, FL, USA Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 02-20-2015 05:57 PM
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randy Member Posts: 2176 From: West Jordan, Utah USA Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-20-2015 06:28 PM
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GACspaceguy Member Posts: 2476 From: Guyton, GA Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-20-2015 06:41 PM
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Ronpur Member Posts: 1211 From: Brandon, Fl Registered: May 2012
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posted 02-21-2015 10:14 PM
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dss65 Member Posts: 1156 From: Sandpoint, ID, USA Registered: Mar 2003
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posted 02-22-2015 02:31 PM
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Lunar rock nut Member Posts: 911 From: Oklahoma city, Oklahoma U.S.A. Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-24-2015 10:58 AM
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SpaceAholic Member Posts: 4437 From: Sierra Vista, Arizona Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-24-2015 11:24 AM
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mode1charlie Member Posts: 1169 From: Honolulu, HI Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 02-24-2015 05:39 PM
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Philip Member Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 02-25-2015 07:41 AM
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Gilbert Member Posts: 1328 From: Carrollton, GA USA Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 02-25-2015 01:31 PM
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