Knopow, Joseph J
Person · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American engineer, at Lockheed in the 1950s developed the infrared radiometer, used to track and target aircraft and missiles.
Joseph J. Knopow was a young Lockheed engineer who helped develop an infrared radiometer and telescope to detect the hot exhaust gases emitted by long-range jet bombers and, more important, large rockets in the mid-1950s. This aircraft-tracker and missile-detection system became a standard method of targeting enemy air and spacecraft.