NRL's Dr. George Carruthers Honored with
National Medal of Technology and Innovation

Dr. George Carruthers (center) discusses the far ultraviolet camera/spectrograph with Apollo 16 Commander John Young (right).
(Photo: NASA)

Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division (SSD) scientist Dr. George Carruthers has received the 2012 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. This is the nation's highest honor for technology achievement, and it is bestowed by the president of the United States upon America's leading innovators. The award ceremony was held at the White House on February 1, 2013.

Dr. Carruthers grew up during the space race and was intrigued with space science. While still a boy, he began building telescopes and model rockets and was an enthusiastic reader at the local libraries. His love for space science extended through his youth and eventually led him to pursue degrees in Aeronautical, Nuclear, and Astronomical Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Following his graduate studies, he accepted a position at NRL in 1964, after receiving a fellowship in Rocket Astronomy from the National Science Foundation. Throughout his tenure in the NRL SSD, Dr. Carruthers has focused his attention on far ultraviolet observations of the earth's upper atmosphere and of astronomical phenomena. In 1969 he received a patent for his pioneering instrumentation, "Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths," which detected electromagnetic radiation in short wave lengths.

Astronaut John Young leaps from the lunar surface as he salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site during the Apollo 16 extravehicular activity. Astronaut Charles Duke, Jr. took the photo. The lunar module Orion is on the left. The lunar roving vehicle is parked beside Orion and the object behind Young (in the shadow of the lunar module) is the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph.
(Photo: NASA)

In 1972, Dr. Carruthers' Far Ultraviolet Camera Spectrograph, the first moon-based space observatory, was sent to the moon with the Apollo 16 mission. This 50-lb., gold-plated camera system allowed researchers to take readings of and understand objects and elements in space that are unrecognizable to the naked eye and gave them views of stars and the solar systems thousands of miles away. His NRL camera still sits on the surface of the moon. A second version of this camera was sent on the 1974 Skylab space flight to study comets and was used to observe Halley's Comet, among others.

He has been the principal investigator for numerous NASA and DoD sponsored space instruments including a 1986 rocket instrument that obtained ultraviolet images of Comet Halley. His experiment on the DoD Space Test Program Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS) captured an image of a Leonid shower meteor entering the earth's atmosphere, the first time a meteor has been imaged in the far ultraviolet from a space-borne camera.

In announcing the National Medal recipients, President Barack Obama said, "I am proud to honor these inspiring American innovators. They represent the ingenuity and imagination that has long made this Nation great—and they remind us of the enormous impact a few good ideas can have when these creative qualities are unleashed in an entrepreneurial environment."

The first observatory ever operated by man from a fixed platform outside the earth was this gold-plated ultraviolet camera/spectrograph invented by Dr. George Carruthers. Apollo 16 astronauts placed the camera on the moon in April 1972. George Carruthers is right and William Conway is left.
(Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, the Medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. A committee of Presidential appointees selects nominees on the basis of their extraordinary knowledge in and contributions to chemistry, engineering, computing, mathematics, or the biological, behavioral/social, and physical sciences.

Then the National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Patent and Trademark Office. The award recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America's competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation's technological workforce. National Medal of Technology and Innovation nominees are selected by a distinguished independent committee representing the private and public sectors.

Geospace research led by George Carruthers, which this award celebrates, is contributing outstandingly to improving our ability to understand and forecast space weather at Earth that can affect military and civilian space and communication systems.

To view the video of the White House ceremony, click here.

About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is the Navy's full-spectrum corporate laboratory, conducting a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,500 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Monterey, Calif. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for over 85 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world. For more information, visit the NRL homepage or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

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