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 feet
2 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

Keywords table of terms and types.
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

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