TRIP REPORT OF(Sanitized)TO BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 13 JULY 1961.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78B04747A003100010057-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2002
• Sequence Number: 57
• Publication Date: July 24, 1961
• Content Type: MF

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DECLASS REVIEW by NIMA/DOD
SUBJECT: Trip Report of
13 July 1961.
MEMORANDUM FOR: Chief, Technical Plans and Development Staff
25X1
25X1
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24 July 1961
to Boston, Massachusetts,
1. The purpose of this trip was to inspect the present status
of our contract with Don modification of the Tmam- Fn7iPn-PmPn+
uuut: ie aaue on the modification and redesign of the experimental
work, and to discuss further with him the directions that we might
plan to go in accomplishing additional work with this particular
mechanism.
2. To summarize his present progress; project section one,
manufacture of the instrument, was completed some years ago; section
two was the modification of the light source to give a bright image;
section three, just now completed, undertook the fabrication of
variable density centered filters, the purpose of these to gain
better line enhancement as a result of a controlled information loss
instead of the arbitrary loss of all low density information. Mr.
to the administrative echelon of I for edit, etc., and should be
down to us in a matter of two or three weeks as a completed piece
of paper. I might add the work has proved successful. He has
gained an appreciable image enhancement without the tremendous
losses of information which were characteristic of the machine in
its earlier form. He sharpened his edges without throwing away
low frequency data. It should be noted that this, however, has been
largely an experimental project and that the machine as it now stands
at the end of the completed subtask shows no change from previous
modifications. While we have proved its feasibility we have not
modified the machine to make the result of the study operationally
useful to us.
will undertake to set down the courses of action open to usVinycon-
tinuation of this developmental project, if indeed we feel it worth
continuing. The proposal will include two factors; a straightforward
one which we will receive proposing a modification of the output end
of the machine to include a microscope arrangement which will travel
in the plane of the focused image. This will let us get magnification
without going to optical systems, cameras, etc., which would pose
real problems. The second and more difficult area is in development
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of proper semi-occluding filter systems to exploit the research
work completed in this last section. There are two directions
such fabrication can go. The first direction would consist of
the coating of these semi-occluding Gaussian curved filters on
quarter wave length flat glass. This quality of glass is dictated
by experiment if indeed we are to deal with ultra high resolution
photographic inputs and this requirement includes anything over
25 lines per millimeter. Therefore,. we have to go to this kind of
glass. The second alternative envisions no glass in the filter
plane but instead a rotating solid filter made something on the
order of a sunflower or a sunburst rotating around the center and
getting the controlled density simply by the spacing of the leaves
from the sunflower. Such an approach poses some fairly broad
mechanical problems but these problems are not insurmountable.
Either approach will require some fairly extensive redesign of our
current instrument. They will, however, make it a much more useful
thing and the last step in our developmental project. Dick is
going to look into both approaches, from a theoretical point of
view and from an engineering point of view, and then give us a
proposal suggesting probably one or the other and also the afore-
mentioned modification of the output into the machine. This
summarizes my conversations with I _J of our current contract for the image enhancement mechanismgation
4. It should be noted, however, that I did tell Dick that
we were considering putting him infbr some clearances so he could
be a more useful person to us. This met with considerable en-
thusiasm. I also discussed deliberately our manpower problem
with Dick and I think in a matter of time, if we were interested,
we could nudge Dick into applying for work with us without too
much trouble. I think he would be very interested in doing so.
He is not content where he is. He is not doing enough practical
work, too much theory, no guidance, etc., and most of the usual
complaints. I think he would like to come down and tackle ra ti-
cal applied problems. 25X1 A
5. As a result of a phone call from on Wednesday,
25X1 A I made a point of calling
Iwhile I was at
are soliciting our e He and
25X1 happened to their la t p In getting a critique o what has
s
i
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s
x proposals. Why were they turned down? I
told him that I certainly couldn't undertake such a critique without
at least first talking to you and getting your authority. If such
a critique were to take place, I believe it more properly would
come from you. As a result, may contact you sometime
around the first of August to see if you will briefly run through
the why and wherefore of what happened to these six contracts.
6. I had a fairly lengthy conversation with
me around parts of the II installation and showe m ofotheok
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things they were doing. Two of these in particular have immediate
and very interesting implications for us. The first of these area
deals with the microphotography capabilities of 25X1
They are doing some fairly interesting things in e e but most
noteworthy to us at the moment, I believe, is their ability to pro-
duce excellent resolving power target areas, graticules, etc.,
which we could use for evaluation of instrumentation. They can
build these to any reasonable resolution. I have a sample 228 lines
per millimeter of fair quality and they consider it a reject. They
give two micron line widths for checking of measurements. They
guarantee the placement in space of the intercomponent relationships
of the basis for checking measurement abilities, etc. I'll try to
get prices for us but we might well go for some 70 mm targets, 52 in.
and 9 in. Such targets already exist in 0 so there shouldn't be 2 5X1
too much of a problem in getting additional ones.
7. Don also showed me a very primitive but very effective
closed circuit television arrangement with ZOOM optics and lots of
filter adjustment, contrast adjustments, etc. The thing that sur-
prised me with the system was roughly this: with the one photograph
they had built in at the time I was looking at it (and this machine
will handle 70 mm roll film) I had a very, very real sense that I
was seeing far more from a two-dimensional photograph than I would
normally have expected to see. I think it would be a very worth-
while effort for us, if we can afford it, to consider buying one of
these packages in a little more finished form with a little better
centralization of the instrumentation or controls and putting it in
area where the photo interpreters can actually work
w1th it as one of the supplemental tools available to them for de-
tailed inte retortion. The price shouldn't be excessive, something
under and we might very well
gain tool. It should be noted, however, that any a
dsuperb evice we~would tien
this point would have to be get
pretty much an experimental thing. We
e
could then go on from there to determine whether we need it more,
whether there are modifications that would make it more useful, or
whether in point of fact it had the degree of utility that I
personally believe such an instrument should have - an excellent
visual presentation permitting variable film magnifications, 33~a NrQN
resolution systems and, consequently, would adapt itself to detailed
analysis by one or more persons all working simultaneously.
8. That is about the sum total of the trip. If anything
more comes to mind, I will keep you posted. In the meantime, I will
spread the word of what I've done to other people who would have an
interest.
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