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National Air and Space Museum Archives
Fairchild KS-25 High Acuity Camera System Collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NASM.1986.0028
- Creators:
-
Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation
- Dates:
-
1956-1967
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
2.57 Cubic feet2 record center boxes
- Repository:
This collection documents the development and testing of the f/4 achromatic lens system. The material includes test data, photographs, and drawings, as well as correspondence detailing Baker's successful fight to secure a patent on the lens system.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
This collection documents the development and testing of the f/4 achromatic lens system. The material includes test data, photographs, and drawings, as well as correspondence detailing Baker's successful fight to secure a patent on the lens system.
Arrangement
Arrangement
Arrangement: (by type of material) 1) Contract specifications 2) Purchase orders and receipts 3) Correspondence 4) Patent applications 5) Camera operations manual 6) Performance and environmental tests final report 7) Lens drawings 8) Performance analysis printouts and calculations
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
In the mid-1950s the Defense Department requested a system for achieving better quality photographic intelligence using smaller and lighter cameras on high-speed aircraft at high altitudes. In response Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation designed the KS-25 High Acuity Camera System, an integrated camera/lens system using a wide-angle 24' focal length lens capable of producing transparencies with resolutions of 140 lines/mm on a high contrast target or 90 lines/mm on a low contrast target. The lens for the KS-25 was designed by Dr. James G. Baker of Spica, Inc. and represented new optics technology to allow wide-angle viewing at daylight illumination on high speed cameras, yet capable of producing a resolution that was effectively diffraction limited.
Administration
Author
Jessamyn Lloyd
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Don Welzenbach, Gift, 1986, NASM.1986.0028.
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Jessamyn Lloyd, 2019.
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Preferred Citation
Fairchild KS-25 High Acuity Camera System Collection, NASM.1986.0028, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Keywords
Keyword Terms | Keyword Types | ||
---|---|---|---|
Fairchild KS-25 High Acuity Camera System | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Aerial photography | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Photographic reconnaissance systems | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Aeronautics, Military | Topical | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Drawings | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Photographs | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Correspondence | Genre Form | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Baker, James G. | Personal Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation | Corporate Name | Search Smithsonian Collections | Search ArchiveGrid |
National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
NASMRefDesk@si.edu