Open Questions

As I researched the content for this history of Questar, on several occasions I fell short of finding answers to several questions. Rather than let a lack of information stop me from sharing what I had already learned, I assembled the following list of outstanding issues.

Chapter 1. Lawrence Braymer and the Emergence of the Questar Telescope

While there is no doubt that Lawrence Braymer was associated with optical designer Norbert Schell, what remains unknown are the details of their first years being associated with each other. What effect did Schell have on Braymer’s thinking between the time he became acquainted with Schell in the mid- to late 1930s and the point at which he and Schell began to collaborate in earnest in the mid-1940s? Was this only a period of casual or friendly contact, or did the two start talking more as business partners?

At what point in time did Braymer abandon plans for a five-inch Questar?

How did Braymer become acquainted with Thomas Cave, and how did the two agree to make the initial optics sets for Questar?

Chapter 2. The Early Years

What prompted Questar to change its serial numbering convention in 1957? Why did the company change from a single-number system (e.g., “123”) to one that used the last digit of the year that an instrument was built (e.g., “7-456” with “7” representing “1957”)?

What patents, if any, did John Gregory obtain for his adaptation of Dmitri Maksutov’s design? See this discussion for more information.

Questar Advertisements

Questar advertisements appeared in the following publications:

Publication Known Years Ad Count
Sky and Telescope 1954-2005 548
Audubon 1956-1967 19
Nature 1958-1959 8
Natural History 1958-1981 184
Holiday 1959 3
Scientific American 1959-1991 380
Catholic Educator 1960 6
Review of Popular Astronomy 1960-1961 5
Camera 35 1962-1974 8
Modern Photography 1962-1981 225
Analog Science Fiction and Fact 1963 7
Science Teacher 1967 1
Science News 1969-1973 6
Construction Contracting 1970 1
Planetarium 1972-1973 4
Industrial Research & Development 1975-1986 25
MIT Technology Review 1976 1
Smithsonian 1977-1982 51
Petersen’s Photographic 1977-1978 5
American Photographer 1979 3
Astronomy 1979-2003 72
Science Digest 1979-1980 3
Science 80 1980 3
Biomedical Communications 1983 2
Lasers & Optronics 1985-1987 5
British Birds 1988 2
NASA Tech Briefs 1992-1993 5
Explore the Universe 2000 1

Did the company publish advertisments in any other magazine?

Company Seven reports that Questar ran advertisements in National Geographic magazine. The authors who contributed to the Wikipedia article on Questar Corporation likely picked up on this. But as I posted on Cloudy Nights on October 17, 2019, and January 27, 2020, I have never come across any evidence that this is in fact true. But just because I cannot find evidence does not mean that that evidence does not exist. Did Questar indeed publish advertisements in National Geographic?

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