17 Cameras!

First, there were 12 for the SAO. Then 3 for the USAF. I thought that was great because I knew of the wherabouts of 12 cameras. But, now, I’ve found out that an extra 2 were built for the USAF. This kind of makes sense as I was pretty certain that there were more than ...

Boller & Chivens

This is just a very short entry to say that the company that built the cameras (Boller & Chivens) has an excellent website describing the Baker-Nunn cameras. They discuss not only the SAO and Air Force tracking cameras but also the ‘Missile Re-entry Camera’ that was produced. I had never heard of this one before ...

Oslo Spacetrack Station

The bit that I know about the Oslo (actually at Harestua) Baker-Nunn comes from the document ‘Science in War and Peace’ (in Norwegian). It’s actually quite an interesting read and gives a very good history of the early days of the BN and how there came to be a camera at Harestua. Here are a ...

The Natal (Brazil) BNC

The Brazilian camera, for me, has always been a bit of an enigma. I knew that one existed but wasn’t sure of it’s history nor what had happened to it. The rumour that I had heard was that it was last seen rotting away on a dock somewhere. Although it seemed shocking, it turned out ...

The Baker-Nunn Site

As the first post on this site, I should probably explain what this is about. Mainly, it’s intended to be source for all of the information that we’ve been able track (no pun intended) down relating to this incredible instrument. The Baker-Nunn cameras served a very important role in the early days of space surveillance ...