Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Research Laboratory. Using 35 mm film, this camera took pictures from the television screen at one-second intervals, made positive prints of the scenes and projected them on a screen automatically, all within the space of two minutes. While the television screen view of the explosion admittedly was not as clear as an eye-view from Bikini would have been, it was better than the eye-view from nine miles away where the closest observers were stationed. It was the next best thing to being on Bikini as far as viewing was concerned, and vastly better with consideration for safe- ty. It i>ermitted human eyes to see things as they occurred which, without it, they could not have seen. I shall never forget the feeling of tension and suspense as I watched the television screen dur- ing the second test and saw the water waves approach Bikini. They were first visible as they came out of the mist around the explosion area about a mile away. As they surged on toward the camera, there was some concern as to whether they would be under ten feet high when they arrived, as predicted by the planning scientists, or large enough to swamp the island and drown the cameras. The predic- tions were accurate. The waves broke on the beach like regular Waikiki rollers and the television cameras continued to survey the lagoon. Another and completely separate television system was used in con- nection with the pilotless airplanes which flew over the explosion and through the cloud column. These planes had two television cameras. One was focussed on the plane's in- strument panel and the other aimed forward from the plane's nose. "Mother" planes, too, were equipped with television receivers and could therefore see the instruments in the robot planes and the view ahead of them. One other spectacular use of radio was in guiding crewless planes and boats. Pilotless planes controlled from "mother" planes several miles distant were directly over the lagoon at the time of the explosion. They flew through the mushrooming cloud immediately and picked up samples of the cloud and air. Then they were brought to land safely on islands many miles away and delivered their samples. Radio Controlled Crewless Boats Following the explosions, boats without crews were directed into the contaminated area and cruised around among the target ships pick- ing up samples of water for analy- sis, after which they were guided back to a large "mother" ship. For many years radio experi- menters have controlled model planes and boats over short dis- tances, but it was startling at Bikini to see numerous full-size bomber and fighter planes without a person aboard maneuvering in the sky along with dozens of fully manned planes. The crewless boats were more amusing than startling. They seemed impertinent as they boldly drove their yellow painted selves straight into the center area where human beings would not be able to go for days. Perhaps the most vital electronic instrument u.sed in the tests was the Geiger Counter, which indi- cates accurately the intensity of radiations in its neighborhood. The little Geiger electronic boxes had more authority than even Admiral Blandy himself! Whenever their warnings said in effect, "Keep away!", no one disobeyed. There has been wide public dis- cussion on the question whether the Bikini tests were necessary or de- sirable. Some of the atomic physi- cists have stated that they were not. Perhaps the tests were not valuable from an academic, nuclear viewpoint since it had been proved previously that the atomic bomb could be detonated. But from the military, engineering and practical viewpoints, the tests were vitally necessary. Quantitative data were not available and effects of many kinds were not known with any- where near the exactness which is necessary to intelligent handling of the bomb, either offensively or defensivelv. below: some of the radio appar.'^tus through which scores of cameras installed on bikini and in planes were accurately controlled. at right, above: ON THIS TELEVISION SCREEN ABOARD THE USS APPALACHIA.N, OBSERVERS WATCHED THE BOMB BLAST. BELOW: TECHNICI.\NS PREPARE RADIO CONTROLS OF TELEVISION AND STILL CAMERAS ON BIKINI.