George Carruthers

George R. Carruthers, scientist who designed telescope that went to the moon, dies at 81, Washington Post
“George R. Carruthers, an astrophysicist and engineer who was the principal designer of a telescope that went to the moon as part of NASA’s Apollo 16 mission in 1972 in an effort to examine the earth’s atmosphere and the composition of interstellar space, died Dec. 26 at a Washington hospital. He was 81. Dr. Carruthers, who built his first telescope when he was 10, had a singular focus on space science from an early age and spent virtually his entire career at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. He was one of the country’s leading African American astrophysicists and among the few working in the space program.”
Image: President Barack Obama awards the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dr. Carruthers at the White House in 2013.