In order for the lunar lander to land safely on the surface of the moon during the Turbulent Sixties, there first had to be a fairly large clear, flat area to be found on the moon’s surface. The near surface had been mapped before, but only from observation from telescopes on earth. What was needed to assure a relatively safe landing on the lunar surface was a detailed, photographic topographic map of the moon’s surface on the near side of the moon. So, in the mid-1960s of the last century, the Lunar Orbiter program was born

Boeing Aircraft was selected by NASA as the prime contractor to get the best results with the program. Strangely enough, they were the highest bidder on the project, but for once, the government selected the one whom they felt was most able to get the job done with the highest chance for success in the time allotted to the project. In a project this large, Boing had to pick subcontractors to speed up the process. Eastman Kodak was selected to build the specialized camera for the job, They in turn selected the company I worked for, Pacific Optical in Los Angeles, to build the high resolution lens for their camera.

I was the one who was to run the lens, a 24–inch focal length (610 mm) f/5.6 lens, through its paces and assure that all the very stringent specifications were met. As with most urgent government programs, not many of the companies, all working on the project from several different angles, had clear ideas for setting up a system where all the players were playing the same game, following the same rules, and arriving at the same point at the same time.

Some were ahead of time on their contracts, some were behind, others didn’t seem to know what they were doing at all. Lucky for my company (and me) we had the people with the right expertise on hand to handle our piece of the project. We were fairly certain that we didn’t have to speed up or slow down to anyone else’s speed. Design the lens, build it, test it, and send the lens to Eastman Kodak. We went ahead at warp speed with our end of the job. We had nothing to worry about. Or, so we all thought.

I made sure that all the lenses (six elements in all) were each of the correct index of refraction, all had the correct center thicknesses, and that all had been edged to the proper diameter. Then, after the surfaces were coated and assembled in the lens mount, I made certain all their optical axes were in line . The assembled lens was then tested using a microscope to visually examine the projected image of the test chart and that all optical aberrations were within tolerances.

Photographic testing was then done in a dark, temperature controlled room after 24 hours of “soaking” in that temperature to stabilize the lens. I used the same film that they would when in orbit around the moon. The lens had been made as perfectly human hands could make it. Then, why didn’t the photographic results match what the designers said it would? Groans could be heard throughout the facility. What was wrong?

A meeting was held and everyone assured me that something must have been done incorrectly in the testing. Their design was flawless. In other words, Bud, you must have screwed up somewhere along the line. That was possible, I thought, but I had been so careful, what had it been?

I then had a new lens made and repeated all the above mentioned tests and measurements. The only thing I did differently was to make sure I had someone in authority go through each step with me. Before it was tested photographically, I was assured that now it would now pass the tests. I had done everything correctly this time. Guess what? The lens failed the photo test again with about the same results as before!

Tune in next week, if you are really interested at all, and learn what the problem with the lens actually was.

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