The Smithsonian Institution, with financial aid from the National Geographic Society, maintained an observatory on Mount Brukkaros, South West Africa (Namibia), from October 1926 to December 1931 to make daily measurements the solar constant. The events that led to the establishment of this solar station, its planning and construction, the work carried out there, and the natural history collections assembled by the wives of the observers are described. The reasons for abandoning the observatory and the significance of its results are also discussed.