The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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52
Settet N0FORl)I
Chapter 2
A-2 camera
U-2s equipped with the A- I camera system also carried a
Perkin-Elmer tracking camera using 2.75-inch film and a 3-inch lens.
This device made continuous horizon-to-horizon photographs of the
terrain passing beneath the aircraft. Because the A- I system was: new,
it also included a backup camera system. a K-17 6-inch three-camera
trimetrogon unit using 9-inch film.
While the A-1 system was still being developed, James )Baker
was already working on the next generation of lenses for high-alrtitude
reconnaissance. Baker was a pioneer in using computers to synthesize
optical systems. His software algorithms made it possible to model
lens designs and determine in advance the effects that variatio,ns in
lens curvatures. glass compounds. and lens spacings would have on
rays of light passing through a lens. These .. ray-tracing" programs re­
quired extensive computations, and, for this he turned to the most
modem computer available, an IBM CPC (card-programmed callcula­
tor) installation at nearby Boston University.
17
" Ibid.. chap. I. pp. 7-8 (TS Codeword).
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