Frank Mellberg of Bell & Howell designed the lens system for the highly successful Surveyor television cameras.

In a June 2010 letter, Frank Mellberg’s son, air and space historian Bill Mellberg wrote,

“This is a copy of my Dad’s original 1961 sketch for the Surveyor zoom lens assembly – drawn in his hotel room the night before he submitted Bell & Howell's proposal to Hughes Aircraft. Other than you and me and my Dad, no one else has seen this sketch in close to 50 years!”

With thanks to Bill Mellberg. Scan by Colin Mackellar.

In this (circa June) 1966 photo, Frank Mellberg is indicating the Bell & Howell TV lens assembly on a scale model of Surveyor A (i.e. Surveyor 1)which he had built.

Photo courtesy William Mellberg. See also Bill’s essay.