Dr George Carruthers
This physicist’s inventions helped scientists see our planet – and the universe – in a whole new light
Carruthers’ distinguished career gifted the scientific community with bold new instruments and many firsts. He is famed for his outstanding contributions to science and technology, inventing an ultraviolet observatory that would eventually take pride of place on the Moon.
His fascination with science began at an early age, having built his first telescope at the age of ten. He earned his PhD in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1964. He then went on to work at the US Naval Research Laboratory, where he was involved in projects spanning Apollo to the Space Shuttle era and beyond.
In 1969 Carruthers secured a patent for his ‘Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths’ – an instrument that would soon revolutionise the way we viewed the cosmos. In 1970 this groundbreaking technology was launched into space on a sounding rocket, providing the first evidence of the existence of interstellar molecular hydrogen, a crucial building block for star formation.
In 1972, during Apollo 16, Carruthers’ Moonbased observatory – the Far Ultraviolet Camera/ Spectrograph – was used for the first time by astronaut John Young to photograph nebulae, galaxies and Earth’s outermost atmosphere. It was called a camera/spectrograph due to the two modes of operation it could achieve. It could take direct images in a similar fashion to a regular camera, but it could also function as a spectrograph and split light into different wavelengths to identify ‘fingerprints’ of atoms and molecules in the sample.
This marked the first time astronomical observations were achieved from the surface of a planetary body other than Earth. Carruthers’ instrument was carefully placed in the shadow of the Orion Lunar Module so as to shield the telescope from direct sunlight that would interfere with observations. The astronauts of Apollo 16 returned with a total of 178 frames of film from the telescope after a mission that lasted just under three days. At present, Carruthers’ gold-plated observatory remains silently perched in the Moon’s Descartes Highlands with only the Lunar Module Orion for company. The Moon-based observatory provided a giant leap in our understanding of not only our own world, but also of the many stars, galaxies and nebulae that surround us.
Carruthers’ influence on science and discovery didn’t stop there. In 1986 Comet Halley was imaged in ultraviolet (UV) using sounding rockets carrying his spectrograph. In 1991 his Far Ultraviolet Cameras were used on the STS-39 Space Shuttle mission to study Earth’s atmosphere, as well as interstellar objects such as comets and stars. Carruthers was also involved in pioneering research in UV imaging of Earth’s polar aurorae and upper atmosphere with the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS), a Department of Defense satellite launched in 1999.
Carruthers’ influence reached far beyond that of his scientific endeavours, as he was a great advocate for education. In the 1980s he helped launch a program designed to give high school students the opportunity to carry out research at the US Naval Research Laboratory. The Science and Engineering Apprentice Program (SEAP) has benefited countless students over the years, and is still going strong today. Carruthers also took the time to teach science classes at Howard University in Washington DC.
His significant achievements did not go unrecognised: in 2003 Carruthers was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the prestigious 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the US’ highest honour for technology achievement.