Berkeley Space Lab Sun Sensor from 1987

[Lord_Bacon]

As I continue to explore these boxes, I keep finding new treasures -- it's kind of like disassembling a Matryoshka doll. I think I found the coolest treasure of all and I went a little crazy taking lots of pictures. It's a custom sun sensor designed and built at the Berkeley Space Lab in 1987. The engineering design documents for the base plate were included in the box. I'm not sure if it was every used or if it was simply an experimental prototype. I'll need to contact the engineer who gave it to me to see if he knows the history.
Here's the updated link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48865091@N04/

[Lord_Bacon]

I more or less completed taking pictures of the highlights from the boxes. There's more stuff, but most of the rest involves repeats or stuff that's not as photogenic.

It's hard to come away from this tiny snapshot of materials from a single academic space laboratory without an appreciation for the role of NASA etc. in fostering growth and development of the international manufacturing conglomerate.

This collection of random laboratory objects provides a snapshot of the 20th century military industrial complex. I make no judgements about said complex; I merely note how thoroughly and extensively the dollars were spread around. It put plenty of engineers to work, that much is sure.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48865091@N04/