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Clandestine CartographyClandestine Cartography
CORONA: The Hidden First CORONA: The Hidden First Decade of Remote SensingDecade of Remote Sensing
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How CORONA workedHow CORONA workedThe Space Segment: Thor/Atlas/Agena The Payload: Itek cameras, film return, aerial
recoveryCamera series: Keyhole, Argon, Lanyard Films:
spectral suites, spatial coverage, resolutions etc.CORONA's overlapping successors: SAMOS,
GAMBIT (KH-7 41 missions, KH-8 53 mission), HEXAGON (KH-9 20 missions, 1971-86), DORIAN (KH-10) MOL, KENNAN/CRYSTAL (9 missions 1976-88)
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CORONA:Space SegmentCORONA:Space Segment
Cover story (Discoverer)Thor/AgenaKH-4 lift required THORADFilm Recovery systemFailure history
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Discoverer at VandenbergDiscoverer at Vandenberg
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Launch: Vandenberg AFBLaunch: Vandenberg AFB
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Thor launch padThor launch pad
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Launch sequenceLaunch sequence
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Thirteen failuresThirteen failures
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Unanticipated CircumstancesUnanticipated Circumstances
“We were all operating in those days in a field in which we didn’t really believe it could be done, we were just going to try.” John Wolfe, Itek camera program manager (A Point in Time)
“Overnight, we went from famine to feast” Richard M. Bissell, Jr.
“By 1965, the rate of success was phenomenal. On the average three or four recoveries were made every month. The seven years of frustration and effort were paying off.” (A Point in Time)
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Orbit: Timing, PredictabilityOrbit: Timing, Predictability
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Thorad in ProductionThorad in Production
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Thorad/AgenaThorad/Agena
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Operational schematicOperational schematic
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OperationsOperations
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CORONA “Bucket”CORONA “Bucket”
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NRO HQ ExhibitNRO HQ Exhibit
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RecoveryRecovery
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Film capsule recoveryFilm capsule recovery
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C-130 Air Catch: 6594C-130 Air Catch: 6594thth Squadron Squadron
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Capture HooksCapture Hooks
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Testing the salt plugs (Santa Barbara?)Testing the salt plugs (Santa Barbara?)
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CORONA’s CORONA’s Cameras: Cameras: KEYHOLEKEYHOLE
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KEYHOLE Camera EvolutionKEYHOLE Camera Evolution
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Image resolutionImage resolution
System
Dates Best resolution # Missions Film footage
KH-1 Aug 60 40 ft 1 3,548
KH-2 Dec60-Jul61 30 ft 3 17,949
KH-3 Aug61-Dec61 25 ft 5 24,676
KH-4 Feb62-Dec63 25 ft 20 239,299
KH-4A Aug63-Oct69 9 ft 92 1,293,025
KH-4B Sep67-May72 6 ft 32 505,970
KH-5 ARGON May62-Jul64 460 ft 7 22,503
KH-6 LANYARD
Jul63-Aug63 2 ft 1 2,251
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A platform and a systemA platform and a system
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Imagery typesImagery types
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CORONA 1959-72CORONA 1959-72 145 total flights At Vandenberg
– Pad 75-1-1 -> SLC 2E– Pad 75-3-4 -> SLC 1W– Pad 75-3-5 -> SLC 1E– Pad 75-1-2 -> SLC 2W– Point Arguello Launch Complex -> SLC 3W
First Launch 28 Feb 1959 Failed to orbit 10 Aug 1960 Discoverer 13 Operations # 1035
– Separation on orbit 17– Water recovery on 11 Aug
Last flight 25 May 1972 (2 RVs)
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CORONA by the numbersCORONA by the numbers
Length of program in years: 12 Number of successful missions: 103 Number of images taken: 800,000 Mapped image coverage in sq. nm: 750 million Number of film canisters in the archive:39,000 Length of film strips in feet: 2.1 million
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GAMBIT and HEXAGONGAMBIT and HEXAGON High resolution KH-7 (and KH-8) system flown
July 1963 to June 1967 Used for large scale mapping of specific targets 0.46
m and 0.5 m resolution, 2 SRVs, 50 days missions. KH-9 was a low resolution system specifically for
cartography “Big Bird” 2 x 1.52 m focal length cameras with 0.6
m resolution. Four capsules. Final mission life of 275 days.
Declassified in 2002
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GAMBIT GAMBIT (Source: www.skyrocket.de)(Source: www.skyrocket.de)
KH-7 KH-8
Atlas/Agena -> Titan3B/Agena-D
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HEXAGONHEXAGON
BIG BIRDWeight 11,400kgUsed TITAN 3-D
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SAMOS SAMOS (Source: Harvard)(Source: Harvard)
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SAMOSSAMOS
• 12 launches, 3 readout 9 recovery• Resolutions 100, 20, 5 and 8 feet• Film developed and scan converted• 5 days-4 months missions• 1958-1961 then cancelled• 1966-7 went to the Moon as the Apollo
Lunar Mapping Camera