Dr. Henry Plotkin, visits NASA's Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging (NGSLR) system12/19/2012 Retired NASA physicist, Dr. Henry Plotkin, visits NASA's Next Generation Satellite Laser Ranging (NGSLR) system in December 2012. As the former Head of the old Optical Systems Branch (Code 524) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Plotkin led the development of the earliest NASA SLR systems. His team recorded the first laser returns from a retroreflector-equipped artificial satellite (Explorer 22B) almost 50 years ago on October 31, 1964. He is shown here with Jan McGarry in front of the NGSLR system.

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