Force Missile Test Center, Cape Canaveral. This system was designed to measure the trajectory of missiles, and was instrumental in pioneering military missile tests and the Project Mercury manned space program.The technology that Weaver and his colleague, Jim Crooks, devised flourished during the Cold War. It was applied to the Navy's Polaris Project and the Air Force's Thor, Atlas missiles and Titan Projects. It also was used by NASA in the Saturn IV (Apollo) program. One of the advantages of the Azusa system over its predecessors was that it required fewer radar sites and operating crews. The increased emphasis on ballistic missiles and efforts to improve their accuracy spurred the development of the Azusa system and Mistram, a competing technology developed by GE in the early 1960s. Choosing the San Diego assignment, Weaver made his home in La Jolla. He was familiar with the area from a 1933 visit to La Jolla Shores, where he had camped out with friends in cow fields, per his son. Computers, electronic gadgets and photography occupied much of his leisure time. He also enjoyed sports cars, as well as "the green flashes of the La Jolla sunsets and the breathtaking beauty of Yosemite Valley," his son said. Weaver, whose engineering career with the Convair Division of General Dynamics spanned 35 years, died age 87 in September 2003 at the White Sands of La Jolla retirement community. He died of natural causes, per his son, Robert Weaver Jr. References Further reading Corliss, W. R. 'Evolution of Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network STADAN from pre-IGY AND Minitrack facilities'. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Report Number: GHN-3, NASA-TM-X-55658, X-202-67-26, 1967. General Dynamics/Astronautics; AZUSA. A Precision, Operational, Automatic Tracking System. San Diego, California, NTIS Report No. AD0832153, MAR 1959. IBM, Astrionics System Handbook, revised ed., NASA MSFC No. IV-4-401-1, NTIS Doc. N70-70002, 1 November 1968, 418 pp. (International Business Machines Corporation working under NASA Contract NAS8-14000). Robert V. Werner, Robert C. Weaver, and James W. Crooks Jr. Transmitter-Receiver. Patent number: 2972047, Filing date: November 21, 1955, Issue date: Feb 1961. Robert V. Werner, Robert C. Weaver, and James W. Crooks Jr. Positioning Determining Device. Patent number: 3025520. Filing date: November 21, 1955. Issue date: Mar 1962. Radar stations Microwave technology Navigational equipment