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With all 

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that man has yet to learn about the world beyond his own, 

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much that he now knows can be traced back to a polish astronomer 

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born 500 years ago. His name 

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Nicolas Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, 

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who formulated the concept that the moon and Earth revolve around the sun, 

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rather than vice versa. 

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Nearly five centuries later, his name has been 

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memorialized in a new space telescope designed by 

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scientists at Princeton University in the United States and University College 

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in London. The Princeton contribution was a large 

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reflecting telescope for detecting invisible ultraviolet radiation. 

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University College designed a new 

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system for monitoring sources of X-ray energy in outer space. 

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music

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music

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Orbiting Astronomical Observatory Copernicus was launched from Cape Kennedy in Florida, 

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on August 21st, 1972. 

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Enclosed in a tip of an Atlas Centaur rocket, it was the largest and most complex 

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unmanned spacecraft ever sent into orbit from the United States. 

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Scientists and dignitaries from Poland and England attended 

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the night time launch. 

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music

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From the Earth an astronomer can see millions of 

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lightyears away, but only in the range of visible light. 

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Cut off from him by Earth’s atmosphere, are the ultraviolet, 

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infrared, gamma and X-rays, containing 

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secrets of how the Universe was born in the darkest reaches of time

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and space. Five hundred 

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miles above the atmosphere, conditions are ideal for probing 

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these mysteries. That is where Copernicus is now on full-time 

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duty using its solar panels for electric power 

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to find and lock on to many stars, and dust between the stars, 

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where stars are born. 

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Ground stations around the world receive transmissions from Copernicus 

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and relay them to the United States. Astronomers everywhere are pleased 

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with the early results. Material needed to form new stars 

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has been found where none was thought to exist. 

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At least one star system is rotating at a speed that 

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increases almost daily. Other early observations remain to be 

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interpreted as the eye of the new Copernicus 

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continues its studies of invisible clues to the creation of the Universe. 

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music

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Produced and Written

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by Robert Foster 

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film editor Dominick Ruggiero 

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Narrator Phil Tonken 

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Executive producers Jerry Berger and Jack Gaines