Triggered by the space missions to the moon, and the earlier orbital flights, I wanted a “big” telescope. My best friend’s father had a 6″ reflector. I looked at buying one, but it was way out of my ability. So I made my own. I ground and polished the mirror, made the mirror mount in shop class, and had the mirror aluminized at Denton Vacuum in NJ. By late 1969 it saw first light.

Here is an early drawing I did of Jupiter. I was 16 years old and I guess a bit romantic about what I saw. I found this drawing a few months ago and thought I’d share.