RARE! Astronomer I. M. Levitt Hand Signed 8X10 B&W Photo JG Autographs COA

  

Levitt Hand Signed 8X10 B&W Photo. This item is certified authentic by JG Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity. On January 2, we lost one of the great early pioneers of Martian time. Levitt's "Mars Clock and Calendar" article in the May 1954 issue of Sky and Telescope was published the very month I was born.

It was one of the first Martian calendars that I discovered after having my first article on Martian timekeeping published in 1986, and I was at the same time both astounded and pleased to learn that he had designed some of the same features into his calendar that I did 32 years later. My "new idea" turned out not to be so new after all. Despite the dozens of Martian calendars that have been invented in the 50 years since, Dr.

Levitt's work has stood the test of time. It remains one of the best Martian calendars ever devised. More than simply being cognizant of the astronomical aspects of calendar design, he also understood the human factors requirements of timekeeping: social, economic, cultural, et cetera.

What a shame that he missed seeing Spirit land on Mars by only a day. Spirit is being renamed the Columbia Memorial Station.

It might be too much to hope, that should Opportunity land successfully in Meridiani Terra, it will renamed the I. Yet this would be a fitting tribute, to name a station near the prime meridian of Mars in honor of the designer of the first Martian clock ever built. It has always been my position that the prime meridian of Mars ought to be named the Meridian of Levitt.