A complex instrument panel in the Control Room reflects these

intricate operations.

The first section of the panel is used only

for air bursts, receiving signals from the bomber indicating re-

lease and, seconds later, recording the detonation. The second and
third sections contain the frequency control equipment for the

motor-generator set which supplies power to the timing equipment,
with voltage recorders, connected to various points in the target
area -~ thus assuring accurate timing -- and records for wind velocity and direction. In order to activate test equipment at the
exact time, very precise control of the frequency for the timer is
required,
New Instrumentation

Several instruments of new or improved types have been developed
by Edgerton, Germeshausen & Grier, Inc., a prime contractor to the
Atomic Energy Commission, for recording and measuring effects of the
detonations during the 1957 series.
Measurement of events that take place within ten billionths of
a second now are possible,
.
One new instrument that measures within such a time range is an

electronic "streak" camera that was given a trie] in the 1956 Paci«

fic test series and is being used by EG& to register effects in
this year's Nevada nuclear tests,

In the camera, the light image is received by an electronic device that translates it into intensified electrical impulses that are
beamed to a phosphorescent screen in the back of the camera and then
recorded on a stationary film. Each individual image is recorded in
a different position on the film by means of a scanning device so
the film has a "streak" of consecutive pictures on it, explaining
the descriptive name of the camera,
The extremely brief duration of the event pictured is made possible by the speed of the scanning mechanism.
In another development, EG&G is attempting, with newly developed
equipment, to photograph shock waves as they are reflected from objects and from people. Comparatively weak shock waves are photographed as they are reflected from persons at a safe distance from
the detonation, as a study into the effects of blast on human bodies,
wt

:

The reflected shock waves cause visible distortions of light
similar to those created by a mirage of hot air, and special techniques have been worked out for obtaining photographs of the reflected waves,
The same principle is applied in photographing shock waves of
materials and designs for shielding instruments, such as cameras,
from the blast of nuclear detonations. Information on the way shock

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