Instrumentation for the OAO Experiments

As predicted in early planning for the exploitation of space technology, astronomy stands to benefit greatly from observations made in wavelengths blocked to earthbound view by the earth´s atmosphere. The first to be attacked has been the ultraviolet spectral region, where young hot stars have their peak energy emission. The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO) series of NASA satellites at present includes four major experiment packages, two of which have (April, 1970) completed more than sixteen months of successful astronomical observations from orbit in the ultraviolet,