Beschreibung:

ATOMIC TESTS: U.S. NAVY ICAROSCOPE.A U.S. Navy Mk. I, MOD. 0 Icaroscope, Universal Camera Corporation, 1945, numbered 40. Black wrinkle-finish painted metal, plastic, rubber eyepiece, glass lenses, 455 x 270 x 220 mm, with spare rectangular viewfinder lens of phosphor screen glass.
The icaroscope is a nonlinear optical device developed at the University of Rochester during WWII to spot enemy aircraft attacking from the direction of the sun, but was used to safely view atomic blasts in Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll. The scope records the image on a phosphor screen and using a double rotating shutter the image, which was initially blocked from the viewer, becomes viewable on the screen about 1/100th second later, thus protecting the eye. Reports suggest that a limited number of icaroscopes were produced for viewing the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. As a result, they are extremely rare on the market.