Dedication

Robert N. Bolster

  I first met Bob when I was assigned to Ft. Belvoir in 1963 to attend the Basic Engineer Officer Course soon after my commissioning in the U.S. Army. I got the crazy idea of grinding an 8 inch telescope mirror in my BOQ quarters – yes, it can be done! - and, needing some advice, I contacted some people in the National Capital Astronomers, who quickly put me on to an ambitious telescope maker, Bob Bolster. We became friends, and shared a common driving interest. Bob introduced me to others in the NCA – Jerry Schnall, Robert McCracken, Hoy Walls, and Jim Krebs, all of whom had at one time ground a telescope mirror. Bob and Jim had the distinction of completing Maksutov telescopes (a design sporting a deep meniscus lens and spherical mirror, considered a challenge to make – and it was). Bob was also an officer in the Naval Reserve – I believe he advanced to rank of Commander before retiring.

  In 1965, I found myself back in the Washington area, and quickly renewed my contacts with NCA, and joined that organization. Bob and I began to collaborate on another advanced amateur project, building Wright-Schmidt telescopes. His would be a 12-inch (currently in place at Hopewell, an observatory he helped found). Mine was to be a more modest 10-inch. Bob and I made several trips together to Stellafane, the Mecca of amateur telescope making. There, we encountered a professional optical worker, Tom Waineo, who had also constructed one of these telescopes. We also met Edgar Everhart, who published a useful paper on methods for testing the mirror, which was of an unconventional shape (oblate sphere).

  Bob had a long career working for the Naval Research Laboratory as a chemist. While there, he made a number of contributions, one of which was developing better lubricants for the M-16 rifle, which had an unfortunate history of jamming in a firefight. Bob's lubricants made a big improvement, and I would guess saved the lives of many U.S. Infantrymen. Another of Bob's contributions was developing a method for recovering electronic equipment which had been exposed to seawater, and he was able to restore equipment that had been completely submerged. A random search of the literature will reveal other work Bob did for the Navy, and he has many publications to his credit.

  Bob served for many years as treasurer of the NCA, and could reliably be found with his 6 inch “Mak” at regular astronomy nights in Rock Creek Park. He also built an observatory in his back yard, and invited NCA members and their families to Friday-night observing sessions whenever weather permitted. Bob was dedicated to furthering astronomy, and his enthusiasm easily spread to others. When he and Bob McCracken started Hopewell Observatory, he was joined by many others from the astronomical society – Bill Winkler, Ken Short, and my old thesis adviser from American University, Prof. Henning Leidecker.

  Bob and I kept up a correspondence after I departed the Washington area, and I was able to pay him a brief visit in 2012. Bob was at work correcting the defects in a commercial diagonal mirror flat. His health was starting to fail him at that time.

  Bob was my best man at my wedding. My wife Nancy and I shall miss him greatly.

ref. also:https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=189195132