Bryn Athyn College Alumni Magazine Fall/Winter 2017-18 | Page 15

After Bryn Athyn’s
team spotted Sputnik’s
explosion, Russia
initially denied the
crash, saying it “must
have been a meteorite.”
Kenneth Rose said,
“This was, and remains,
the only satellite
ever seen falling.”
Satellite Sputnik II had left its
orbit and plunged to earth, and
that “a moonwatch team from
Bryn Athens [sic], Pennsylvania
reported at 8:45 p.m. spotting an
object in the sky ‘trailing a tail of
tiny particles.’”
After Bryn Athyn’s team spot-
ted Sputnik’s explosion, the Bar-
bados Islands reported that a fiery
object had been sighted blowing
up in the sky. Even though Russia
initially denied the crash, saying
it “must have been a meteorite,”
the country later acknowledged
the truth of their satellite’s death
plunge.
Kenneth Rose explained that
the Bryn Athyn team had seen
Sputnik II as it began to burn
from friction with the lower atmo-
sphere. This information helped
the Moonwatch Headquarters in
Cambridge learn how the dog-
carrying rocket had disintegrated
over the Caribbean Sea. Kenneth
said, “This was, and remains, the
only satellite ever seen falling.”
Recognition
In February of 1958, US Presi-
dent Dwight Eisenhower pub-
licly thanked the Moonwatch-
ers around the country for their
important work. That same year,
the National Academy of Scienc-
es awarded a certificate to Bryn
Athyn Moonwatchers in “recog-
nition of outstanding visual ob-
servations of IGY artificial
earth satellites.” The certifi-
cate ended with, “By these
observations, members of
this moonwatch team have
made a significant scientif-
ic contribution to the IGY
Earth Satellite Program.”
For Wertha, the many
late hours spent looking
for satellites was all worth
it. In a speech delivered
to Academy of the New
Church faculty she said, “I
wanted to do something
practical for the IGY. I felt
this was the best way to help.”
Wertha Is Honored
The IGY ended on the final day
of 1958. Hours later, on Janu-
ary 1, 1959 Wertha passed away.
In a letter of sympathy to her
husband, the Smithsonian As-
trophysical Observatory stated,
“Through her skill and inspiring
leadership, both of which are evi-
denced in the magnificent record
of the Bryn Athyn Moonwatch
Team, Mrs. Cole was able to con-
tribute measurably to the success
of the International Geophysical
Year, specifically, in the collection
of scientifically valuable artificial
earth satellite observational data.”
Members of the Moonwatch
team credit Wertha for the im-
mense success of the project. Ken-
neth wrote, “Certainly no mate-
rial gift can express our gratitude
to her. Whatever words we might
use, and even the thoughts behind
them, are far overshadowed by the
simple facts that demonstrate how
the team owes to her its success, its
inspiration, its very existence.” He
added, “It was Mrs. Cole’s enthu-
siasm for science and its potential
use that led her to call us together
two years ago. It took her interest
and perception to realize that the
people of Bryn Athyn could take
such an active part in the work
of the International Geophysical
Year, and thus contribute to the
success of the greatest peaceful
project that ever brought the pop-
ulation of our restless world into
close cooperation.”
In conclusion, he wrote, “The
finest monument to her memory
will be continued success in the
work she began. And this goes
farther than the observation of
satellites. We must remember, as
she always did, to keep looking
beyond what is merely seen by the
eye.”
Special thanks to
Greg Jackson (BA ’04)
for use of archival material .
B RY N AT H Y N A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E
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