Original vintage 1964 Sperry Rand Cold War advertisement for its outer space guidance system, which included inertial guidance and control, infra-red optics, digital and analog techniques, radar, displays, and system management. More than outer space, Sperry expanded into a Cold War powerhouse, vis-a-vis guidance systems and more for NATO weaponry (to include ballistic missiles).
Dimensions: Approx. 8.25 inches wide by 11 inches high.
Sperry Corporation
The history of the Sperry Corporation is the story of technological innovation and the application of that technology to everyday, real-world uses - indeed, the aerospace company played a critical role in the advancement of aerospace and space exploration during the 1960s "space race" between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Named after its founder, Elmer A. Sperry, and established on April 19, 1910, with no outside financing, no products, no employees, but with an "unquenchable enthusiasm," Sperry grew to be a multinational technological powerhouse.
In 1911, the first Sperry gyroscope was installed aboard the Old Dominion Line PRINCESS ANNE for a trial run from New York to Hampton Roads, Virginia. Upon completing this trial the unit was brought back to New York and installed aboard the U.S.S. DELAWARE. Trials aboard the DELAWARE were launched starting on August 18, 1911. From this trial aboard the DELAWARE an order for four systems soon arrived from the U.S. Navy.
Fast forward to World War II, and in recognition of Elmer A. Sperry's contribution to the people and government of the U.S., the U.S. Navy in 1941 laid the keel for AS-12, the USS SPERRY at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California. On December 17, 1941, the USS SPERRY was launched and had the dubious distinction of being the first U.S. Naval combatant commissioned after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The USS SPERRY, a fleet Submarine Tender, served throughout the war, spending her entire time in the western Pacific. She served with distinction until 1982 and after 40 years of service was moved to Bremerton, Washington, where she sits today awaiting final disposition.
At the end of the war, the Sperry Corporation and its subsidiary, Gyroscope, saw great expansion. Much of this expansion was attributable to emerging electronics technologies. This expansion eventually led to the acquisition of the Remington Rand Corporation in 1955.
At the completion of the acquisition, Sperry Corporation became the Sperry Rand Corporation and stayed with this name until 1979. At about the same time as the Rand acquisition, Sperry Gyroscope decided to open a facility that would almost exclusively produce its marine instruments. After considerable searching and evaluation, the Charlottesville area of Central Virginia was selected as the site.
