The Secretive CIA Cold War Corona Project | Upscaled Original Footage
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 ก.ย. 2024
- The Corona[1] program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force. The CORONA satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972.
History
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite. Officially, Sputnik was launched to correspond with the International Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However, the launch led to public concern about the perceived technological gap between the West and the Soviet Union.[2] The unanticipated success of the mission precipitated the Sputnik Crisis, and prompted President Dwight D. Eisenhower to authorize the Corona program, a top priority reconnaissance program managed jointly by the Air Force and the CIA. Satellites were developed to photograph denied areas from space, provide information about Soviet missile capability and replace risky U-2 reconnaissance flights over Soviet territory.[3]
Overview
Lockheed's covert "advanced projects" facility at Hiller Aircraft in Menlo Park, California
CORONA image of The Pentagon, 25 September 1967
CORONA started under the name "Discoverer" as part of the WS-117L satellite reconnaissance and protection program of the U.S. Air Force in 1956. The WS-117L was based on recommendations and designs from the RAND Corporation.[4] The primary goal of the program was to develop a film-return photographic satellite to replace the U-2 spyplane in surveilling the Sino-Soviet Bloc, determining the disposition and speed of production of Soviet missiles and long-range bombers assets. The CORONA program was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other U.S. government mapping programs.[5]
The CORONA project was pushed forward rapidly following the shooting down of a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union on 1 May 1960.[6]
CORONA ultimately encompassed eight separate but overlapping series of satellites (dubbed "Keyhole" or KH[7]), launched from 1959 to 1972.[8]: 231 CORONA was complemented and ultimately succeeded by the higher resolution KH-7 Gambit and KH-8 Gambit 3 series of satellites.[9]
An alternative concurrent program to the CORONA program was SAMOS. That program included several types of satellite which used a different photographic method. This involved capturing an image on photographic film, developing the film aboard the satellite and then scanning the image electronically. The image was then transmitted via telemetry to ground stations. The Samos E-1 and Samos E-2 satellite programs used this system, but they were not able to take very many pictures and then relay them to the ground stations each day. Two later versions of the Samos program, such as the E-5 and the E-6, used the bucket-return approach pioneered with CORONA, but neither of the latter Samos series were successful.[10]
Spacecraft
The CORONA satellites were designated KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4, KH-4A and KH-4B. KH stood for "Key Hole" or "Keyhole" (Code number 1010),[7] with the name being an analogy to the act of spying into a person's room by peering through their door's keyhole. The incrementing number indicated changes in the surveillance instrumentation, such as the change from single-panoramic to double-panoramic cameras. The "KH" naming system was first used in 1962 with KH-4, the earlier numbers being applied retroactively.
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Remarkable footage of the yawing of the rocket in the early stages of launch shown at 53:00. Must have been a seriously strong structure to withstand that.
The irony that Eisenhower felt unable to trumpet the successes of this Corona program for his re-election campaign to counter assertions from the Kennedy campaign of sleeping on the job of defending the US is stark.
One wonders what current presidential hopeful would honour secrecy at the cost of their campaign. Those forged in the heat of the Second World War were indeed exceptional people for whom service really was everything.
Well said.
Compartmentalization is king, always.
Respect to all the people at the NRO that made this happen, their tireless sacrifice and years of effort. Thank you.
@@trespire and then turned the Spy cameras on its own population
Excellent, very interesting.
31:02 is my Grandpa Jim - this AI (?) restored video is cool but it is def distorting and blurring faces (it doesn't really look like him lol). An amazing man, team, and successful project. Highly recommend the book "Secret Empire" by Philip Taubman if you are interested in more details.
Nice exposé on balloonites and satelloons. Geocentric model earth wins again.
8:49 - John looks hgh af in that video.
What did I subscribe to?
The USSR opened the use of space over all the earth to satellites of all countries by sending "Sputnik" to circle the world.
Best guy we could get to narrate this?
This is the original audio...recorded in the 1950s.
Go back to the 70s and tell them.
Lol
so much crimplene
Old news, nothing current
Right. Hexagon, Kennen and even Dorian are more interesting. The ELINT stuff they piggybacked on the Agena is the most intriguing. The up conversion here is nice, though! 😂
You really are an idiot
Nothing current?! It’s from the Cold War what were you expecting? 😂