Evening star., 1955-02-08
Super x-Ray Shows
=,
Inside Of Engine in
Actual Operation
By Thomos R. Henry

A picture of the inside OF a
motor taken through about 10
inches of steel was shown on a
televiSion screen to invited
guests at the first of series
of open house nights at the
Bureau of Standards last night.
The picture could have been
taken through 20 inches of steel
or any other metal.
This display represents one
of the bureaus major accom-
plishments during the past year.
For the first time, it now is
possible to photograph the in
side of an engine in actual
operation without removing any
part Of the metal jacket in which
the moving parts are contained.
Such pictures can show at
once what is wrong with ma
chine not functioning properly,
DR.. Allen v. Astin, bureau di-
ECCtOI, CApidliiCN.
Powerful X-rays.
The pictures are taken with
superpowerful X-rays produced
in beams by electronS from a
50-million-volt betatron. These
easily penetrate the metal A
crystal contrivance is used to
convert the X-ray pattern into
q visible light pattern, which is
picked up by a television scanner
and produced on the screen.
Thus. it was explained, an
"engine doctor" can get an in
stantaneous and continuous pic
ture of what is going on inside
his patient. The device was
likened to the Horoscope used
by physicians. The X-rays are
produced in pulses, each of which
lasts a fillionth of a second and
occur 1,800th of a second apart.
BY proper synchronization
techniques, it was explained. a
running motor can be stopped"
at any instant after the fashion
of high-speed photography.
The Bureau of Standards. set
up is the only one of it's sort in
existence, and there remain
some difficulties to overcome.
Eventually, however, the bureau
engineers believe, something like
1t will be a necessity for most
large industrial establishments
operating with power machinery.
Speed of Light Study.
In another development, the
bureau announces it has rede-
termined the speed of light, the
most fundamental constant in
creation.
Physicists have obtained two
slightly different values, accord
ing to the method used. Both
are about Is miles a second
greater than the value of 299,-
776 kilometers a second general
ly accepted all over the world
until about 10 years ago, when
development of more precise
methods of measurement began
to indicate a somewhat higher
velocity.
Lots of things depend on the
speed of light. such as distances
from the earth to objects in
space. The sun, for example, be-
comes a few hundred miles
nearer with the new values. The
constant is basic in the Einstein
formula for conversion of mass
into energy-the foundation of
the whole atomic energy de-
velopment.
One result obtained by bureau
physicists, using highly tech
nical laboratory method, is 299,-
1893 kilometers second with a
possible error of six kilometers in
either direction BY much more
direct method, in which the
speed of radio waves between
two points precisely measured
distance apart was measured, the
value of 299,795.l was obtained.
Here the possible error in either
direction is about three kilo-
meters.
Average to Be Standard.
An average between the two
values probably will be the
standard accepted for the United
States. The major function Of
the bureau, DR. Astin explained
at the open house, is to deter
mine the physical constants that
are the basis of all American
technology.
Among the developments