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The Shadow Space Race
vm writes "NOVA's recent documentary, "Astrospies," was written and co-produced by journalist and NSA expert, James Bamford. It details the U.S. Air Force's orbiting spy station program begun in the 1960s, the Manned Orbital Laboratory. Designed from a heavily modified Gemini 2 capsule and launched from a Titan III booster rocket, MOL was basically intended to be a Hubble telescope pointed at Earth with the sole intention of collecting photo intelligence on the Soviets using an impressive array of optics and gyro balanced cameras operated onboard by specially trained astronauts. The lab was never launched, however, due to the competing Corona unmanned spy satellite program funded by NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office.
Partly spurred by the success of the Apollo missions, the Soviets, meanwhile, sent cosmonauts to its own succesfully launched spy platform, the Almaz. In addition to an onboard film lab and a space-to-ground image relay system, it included an alarming first in manned space exploration; a 23mm aircraft cannon — which is rather ironic in light of Russia and China's recent attempts to ban space weaponry. At a time when we're still unearthing details about the post 9/11 domestic spying debacle, it's a fascinating look at the history of technology used to look over our neighbors' fences."
There is
more to the story but what these sorts of stories always make me wonder, is since this was the 60s, what are they doing NOW!
a Hubble telescope pointed at Earth with the sole intention of collecting photo intelligence on the Soviets using an impressive array of optics and gyro balanced cameras operated onboard by specially trained astronauts. The lab was never launched, however, due to the competing Corona unmanned spy satellite
First, I doubt the summary. Hubble was launched thirty years after the discussed satellite. I'm supposed to believe that the technology for optics, electronics, gyroscopes, etc didn't improve between 1965 and 1995? It could hardly have been a "Hubble pointed at Earth".
If it wasn't launched because of a "competing" telescope, you can bet your ass the one they launched produced clearer pictures or some other, better capability.
I held a clearance in the USAF (1971-1975) and saw stuff that is still classified. I wouldn't doubt for a minute that today, decades after the Carona, they can point a satellite at your house and count the fleas on your dog while looking through your roof.
-mcgrew
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
It has long been rumored that since the US started the Shuttle program, the Soviet recon sats were equipped with a small self-destruct explosive charge. The idea was that the charge would be a deterrent in case NASA attempted to grab one of the Soviet birds.
Fantasy: http://ferrisfantasy.blogspot.com/
I'm prepared to bet they really *are* doing nothing. We live in a wimpy, cost-conscious, risk-averse limp-wristed world. I wish the government would stop whining about terrorists like they've only just been invented and get back to funding space programmes and groovy high-tech fighter aircraft. Who cares if it's dangerous? If you get killed, just remember that you got killed *flying a spaceship!*
I personally never do anything outdoors that I wouldn't want to be caught doing. Paranoid? Perhaps. Unrealistic? Definitely not.
My dad was an electrical engineer with advanced degrees from places like MIT. Back in the 60's he had a top secret security clearance and worked for Mitre, where he worked on projects that as few as six people (including President Kennedy) knew the full details of. He's spoken a few times about a series of photos he once saw, taken from a spy plane something like 10-15 miles up. It started out with a photo of the continental United States. The next one in the series was of a region within the US. The next one was of one particular state (I forget which). The next one was a town within that state. In the next one you could clearly make out a golf course. The next one was one of the holes of the golf course. The next one was the green on the golf course where you could see the flag (pin) in the hole. The last photo in the series showed a golf ball on the green and you could clearly read the name on the golf ball.
If that had that level of sophistication back in the 60's you can be sure they can do even better than that today, which most likely means the same or better level of detail from orbiting satellites.
I watched too. The thing about Almaz that floored me was that the Russians were so paranoid about their station that they armed it. A 23mm cannon was attached to the station. According to the show, if any kind of satellite got too close, they would blast it with the cannon... The station could turn and swivel using gyros to keep a photographic target in sight, and could do the same thing with the cannon. They were afraid to fire it with men aboard, but they did fire the cannon with remote control. It worked and the station survived the vibrations caused by the cannon... Bottom line - the Russians were militarizing space before Ronnie ever conceived of Star Wars...
Brawndo: It's what plants crave!
Did you think the weather satellites we put in orbit in the 60s were meant to forecast the weather for only the US? They were the first pass over the USSR, and the spy satellites were turned on only after it was determined there was a lack of cloud cover over the target.