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The Shadow Space Race

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the much-better-than-my-rainbow-moonbeam-race dept.

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!

7 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. HA HA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    The space race sucks!

  2. Leave it to that faggot Taco... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    to make the leap from 60's-era spy satellites to the NSA listening to people making phone calls to remote regions of Afghanistan. Fuck you Taco.

  3. No Grammar Nazis Yet? by XenoPhage · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    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?


    There, fixed that for ya..

    My first grammar Nazi post.. I'm SO proud!
    --
    XenoPhage
    Technological Musings
  4. Re:What are we doing now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    "And for pete's sake, ask your father to shave that thing."

    There! Fixed that for 'ya!

  5. WOW... by fractalrock · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    In response to CmdrTaco:

    We don't even KNOW what they are doing NOW!

  6. Re:What are we doing now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    And for pete's sake, ask your girl friend to shave that thing.
    Bring back the bush! A shaved gash has NO personality!
  7. Re:Why Build new ones? Unless you want the Bigger. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Didn't you post this exact same comment right before the 2004 election? And right before the 2006 senatorial election? And were you one of those people who posted about how Bush had already signed an order reinstating the draft, but was waiting until after the election to announce it, so we'd better vote Democrat zomg! And were you also one of those people who posted about all the "secret prisons" that Halliburton was building here in the US, and that Bush would soon start locking up political dissidents? I can also remember, way back in 2002 on fark.com, right when the war started, when you'd get reports about finding whole warehouses full of WMDs people (like you) would say, "IT WAS PLANTED"

    Yeah. Tinfoil hat people, please give it a rest. It's getting old.