Scientist George Carruthers Was Born
Scientist George Carruthers Jr. used his talents to help reveal the mysteries of space and the Earth’s atmosphere. Carruthers was born on October 1, 1939, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began inventing at the young age of 10.
His father, George Carruthers Sr., was a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Air Corps who encouraged his son’s early interest in science. Carruthers Jr. built his first telescope at the age of 10, constructed out of cardboard tubing and lenses he purchased with money he earned.
After losing his father, Carruthers continued pursuing the sciences and began competing in Chicago’s science fairs while in high school. The young inventor won three awards (one of which was first place) for a telescope he designed. He enrolled in the engineering program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus and focused his studies on aerospace engineering and astronomy. He even earned a master’s in nuclear engineering (1962) and a Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering (1964) from the university.
Once Carruthers completed his education, he took a position at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow, and two years later, he became a full-time research physicist. He received a patent for his “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths” in 1969. Carruthers’s UV telescope and image converter helped to provide proof of existing molecular hydrogen in interstellar space.
His invention was used during the Apollo 16 Mission in 1972 with the first lunar walk. He allowed scientists to examine Earth’s atmosphere and UV images of galaxies and stars. NASA awarded him the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his contributions to the mission. Carruthers’ continued making inventions and in 1991, he created a special camera to be used in space shuttle missions.
Carruthers expanded his reach and began creating programs to connect high school students with opportunities at the Naval Research Laboratory. He even taught courses in Earth and Space Science to D.C. Public School’s science teachers and students at Howard University. Carruthers became a member of the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 2003 for his dedication to the sciences. In 2011, he received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
