X-Nico

4 unusual facts about Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory


Gravity Probe A

Gravity Probe A (GP-A) was a space-based experiment to test the theory of general relativity, performed jointly by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Marvin Nunatak

It was presumably first seen by the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901–04, from nearby Depot Nunatak, and was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1992 after Ursula B. Marvin of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Michael J. Kurtz

Michael J Kurtz is an astrophysicist at Harvard University, He has held the title of Astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics since 1983, and the addition post of Computer Scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory since 1984.

STOIC

at Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and was distributed by DECUS.


Center for Detectors

Additional sources of funding include the National Science Foundation, BAE Systems, the Spitzer Science Center, the Herschel Science Center, and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Frederick Atwood Greeley

Frederick Atwood Greeley (26 November 1896, Pelham, New Hampshire - 19 March 1980, Laguna Hills, California) was an American astronomer who worked on the solar constant program of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), which had been started by Samuel Pierpont Langley.

Leon Van Speybroeck

The Chandra x-ray mirrors resulted from over two decades of collaboration between Van Speybroeck and colleagues at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and scientists and engineers affiliated with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, TRW Inc., Hughes-Danbury (now BF Goodrich Aerospace), Optical Coating Laboratories, Inc.


see also

Julian day

The Modified Julian Date (MJD) was introduced by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in 1957 to record the orbit of Sputnik via an IBM 704 (36-bit machine) and using only 18 bits until August 7, 2576.