Photosensitive lunar tracker using radial scanning and fiber optics

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING THE DIRECTION TO THE CENTER OF A REMOTE, INACCESSIBLE, PARTIALLY ILLUMINATED, SPHERICAL BODY, COMPRISING, AN OPTICAL SYSTEM FOR FORMING AN IMAGE OF SAID BODY, A TRANSPARENT PLATE POSITIONED IN THE FOCAL PLANE OF SAID SYSTEM FOR RECEIVING SAID IMAGE, A PLURALITY OF STRIPS BEING FASTENED TO SAID PLATE ON THE SIDE REMOTE FROM SAID OPTICAL SYSTEM. ONE END OF EACH OF SAID STRIPS BEING FASTENED TO SAID PLATE ON THE SIDE REMOTE FROM SAID OPTICAL SYSTEM, EACH STRIP BEING POSITIONED ON A DIFFERENT RADIAL LINE WITH THE EDGES OF SAID STRIPS TOUCHING EACH OTHER AND CLUSTERED ABOUT THE OPTICAL AXIS OF SAID SYSTEM EACH STRIP BEING GENTLY TWISTED ALONG ITS LENGTH, THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID STRIP BEING ARRANGED IN THE SAME PLANE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER IN A RECTANGULAR STACK, MEANS FOR SCANNING SAID OTHER ENDS SUCCESSIVELY IN A RECTILINEAR FASHION AND FOR GENERATING FIRST SIGNALS THE VARIATIONS OF WHICH ARE INDICATIVE OF THE VARIATIONS IN LIGHT INTENSITY ALONG SAID ENDS. WHEREBY THE EFFECT IS THAT OF SCANNING SAID IMAGE ALONG RADIAL LINES AND WHEREBY EACH OF SAID FIRST SIGNALS VARIES ABRUPTLY AS THE IMAGE OF THE EDGE OF SAID BODY IS SCANNED, MEANS CONTROLLED BY SAID FIRST SIGNALS FOR GENERATING SECOND SIGNALS INDICATIVE OF THE LENGTH FROM THE OPTICAL AXIS TO THE EDGE OF SAID IMAGE ALONG SAID ONE END OF EACH OF SAID STRIPS, MEANS CONTROLLED BY SAID SECOND SIGNALS FOR GENERATING TWO ERROR SIGNALS INDICATIVE OF THE DEPARTURE IN TWO COORDINATES OF SAID AXIS OF SAID OPTICAL SYSTEM FROM THE CENTER OF SAID BODY, AND MEANS CONTROLLED BY SAID ERROR SIGNALS FOR ADJUSTING THE ORIENTATION OF SAID OPTICAL SYSTEM TO REDUCE SAID ERROR SIGNALS TO ZERO.