Roger L. Easton Sr., former scientist and engineer with Project Vanguard and the inventor of GPS, delivered the opening lecture of the First Year of the Space Age exhibition at the Linda Hall Library. Mr. Easton discussed the selection of Project Vanguard as the official U.S. satellite program for the International Geophysical Year.

Roger Easton (left) supervising the placement of the Vanguard 1 satellite on the launch vehicle. Photo courtesy of the Naval Research Laboratory

About Roger Easton In 1955, Easton co-wrote the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard proposal to be the official U.S. satellite program. The Eisenhower Administration selected Project Vanguard over two other proposals, including one from the U.S. Army prepared by Werner Von Braun. Mr. Easton invented the Minitrack tracking system to determine the Vanguard satellite's orbit. When Sputnik was launched he extended Minitrack to actively follow unknown satellites orbiting Earth. Under his leadership, the Naval Space Surveillance System became the world's first system to detect and track all types of Earth-orbiting objects.

Later in his career at NRL, Mr. Easton conceived, patented, and led the development of critical enabling technologies for the United States Global Positioning System (GPS). During the 1960s and early 1970s he developed a time-based navigational system with passive ranging, circular orbits, and space-borne high precision clocks placed in satellites. The idea was tested with four experimental satellites: TIMATION I and II (in 1967 and 1969) and Navigation Technology Satellites (NTS) 1 and 2 (in 1974 and 1977). NTS-2 was the first satellite to transmit GPS signals.

A graduate of Middlebury College with a degree in physics, Mr. Easton has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his technical achievements. Most notably, in 2006 President Bush awarded Mr. Easton the prestigious National Medal of Technology at a White House ceremony for his work with spacecraft tracking and GPS.

October 4 @ 6:30 p.m. - Sputnik Night
Linda Hall Library - On the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik - the world's first artificial satellite - come to the Linda Hall Library for viewing stars (and maybe satellites!), listening to ham radios and learning about the early days of the space age.

October 15 @ 6:00 p.m. - Periodic Roundtable Book Discussion Group
Linda Hall Library - Join Scott Curtis, Head of Reference, for a lively discussion of Sputnik: The Shock of the Century by Paul Dickson, Linda Hall Library.

October 28 @ 2 p.m. - Screening of 'October Sky'
Kansas City Public Library - Enjoy a Sunday matinee screening of the 1999 film 'October Sky', a story about how Sputnik inspired future rocket engineer Homer Hickam as a coal miner's son in West Virginia.