# Geoffrey Perry

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{{Short description|British physics professor and astronomer (1927–2000)}}
{{other people||Jeffrey Perry (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Geoffrey E. Perry''' [MBE](/source/Member_of_the_Most_Excellent_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (4 August 1927, [Braintree, Essex](/source/Braintree%2C_Essex) &ndash; 18 January 2000, [Bude](/source/Bude))  was a [physics](/source/physics) teacher at [Kettering Grammar School](/source/Kettering_Grammar_School), [Northamptonshire](/source/Northamptonshire), England who, together with his colleague Derek Slater, and students, deduced the existence of the previously-secret [Plesetsk Cosmodrome](/source/Plesetsk_Cosmodrome) in 1966 by analyzing the orbit of the [Kosmos 112](/source/Kosmos_112) satellite. The ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)'' published his discovery shortly before [Christmas](/source/Christmas) in 1966.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Times |first=Evert Clark Special To the New York |date=1966-12-21 |title=A 3D MISSILE BASE IN USE IN RUSSIA; Secret Site First Reported by Grammar School Pupils |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/21/archives/a-3d-missile-base-in-use-in-russia-secret-site-first-reported-by.html |access-date=2025-03-02 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Perry and his students (who formed the Kettering Group along with some other volunteers worldwide) continued their [satellite tracking](/source/satellite_watching) work for a number of years, using only inexpensive [shortwave radio](/source/shortwave_radio) equipment and painstakingly using the [Doppler effect](/source/Doppler_effect) to deduce the satellites' orbits.  They were often able to deduce what various Soviet satellites were being used for, based on their [telemetry](/source/telemetry). This information was likely already known by Western intelligence agencies, although it was classified, meaning that the Kettering Group played an important role in making information about the Soviet space programme publicly available.

Perry received an [MBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire) in 1973, in the New Year Honours List. In 1974, he received the [Jackson-Gwilt Medal](/source/Jackson-Gwilt_Medal) of the [Royal Astronomical Society](/source/Royal_Astronomical_Society).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-03-09 |title=RAS: Medal Winners |url=http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_moth.html |access-date=2025-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309114549/http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_moth.html |archive-date=9 March 2005 }}</ref> After retiring from teaching in 1984 he worked as a space analyst for the [ITN](/source/ITN) television network. He was married to Jean, and had a daughter, Isabel.

==References==
{{No footnotes|date=June 2019}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.orbitalfocus.uk/Kettering/Kettering.php Satellite Tracking Group Members]
* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1DA103DF931A15752C0A9669C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/G/Glanz,%20James ''New York Times'' obituary]
* [http://www.space.com/peopleinterviews/jperry_obit_000120.html Obituary]
* [https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,33825,00.html Obituary]
* [http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/trackind/getstart/oldcyts.htm Satellite tracking group]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Geoffrey}}
Category:1927 births
Category:2000 deaths
Category:20th-century British astronomers
Category:Schoolteachers from Essex
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Geoffrey Perry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Perry) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Perry?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.