I can tell you that in the late sixties, spotting a satellite was still unusual for me. I didn't see one after dark every time I took out my scope. Unlike now when it is common to see half a dozen or more every clear evening just by random chance- many more if you are consciously looking for them. I spent a lot more time at the telescope then than I do now. Friday night at SPOC we noticed a "constellation" of two satellites separated by only a couple of degrees, moving south-to-north, among several other single sightings. Although I didn't participate in the Moonwatch program, I do recall seeing one of the specialized small scopes on a stand with a first-surface mirror, that were used all over the country. I can't recall now who it belonged to; might have been John Mosley. On 9/9/07, Kurt Fisher <fisherka@csolutions.net> wrote:

The Oct. issue of Sky & Telescope has a historical article on a satellite tracking program called Project Moonwatch begun with Sputnik. It continued through the 1970s. I was wondering if any of the more senior SLAS members might have participated in Moonwatch and have some personal recollections back in the time when there were not 11,000 artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. - Kurt

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