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NRO To Declassify Cold-War Spy-Sat Tech

Posted by timothy on from the time-to-rewatch-the-falcon-and-the-snowman dept.

Muad'Dave writes "The National Reconnaissance Office is set to reveal details of two of the cold war's most capable spy satellite programs on September 17th — the GAMBIT and HEXAGON projects, aka the keyhole KH-7, -8, and -9 satellites. These bus-sized sats provided critical imagery during the height of the cold war, and were likely the inspiration for the movie Ice Station Zebra. The article links midway down the first page provide a fascinating look into the world of real spy-vs-spy, cloak-and-dagger intelligence gathering."

11 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re:It's nice to know stuff 60 years after it matte by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Oh fer chrissake, it's a tech article, not a tinfoil-hat Wikileaks article. Let's talk about how the Keyholes were the prototypes for Hubble.

  2. It was Discovery II Corona that inspired the movie by LWATCDR · · Score: 2

    "The plot has parallels to events reported in news stories from April 1959, concerning a missing experimental CORONA satellite capsule (Discoverer II) that inadvertently landed near Spitsbergen, situated in the Arctic Ocean on April 13, which was believed to have been recovered by Soviet agents."
    The book was published in 1963 the first KH-7 was launched in July of 1963 so the math doesn't add up for the Gambit to be the satellite in the book.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. Spy Satellites were a pain in the butt... by SwedishChef · · Score: 2

    Back in the 1970s I had the pleasure of working on several large-scale classified projects (one included a large ship). Everything we did had to be done on a schedule that would take into account whether a Soviet spy satellite was passing over or not. I can remember being frustrated that this caused a lot of extra work and time but at least we knew when NOT to do something.

    I suspect that it's a lot more difficult now.

    --
    No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
  4. Proven Technology by necro81 · · Score: 2

    I recall in college being given a problem set on optics, which considered whether it was possible for the US Government to actually read license plates from space. This question asked us to consider the Hubble Space Telescope and its diffraction limit (setting aside atmospheric disturbance), and compare that to the angular size of the letters on a license plate when viewed from low Earth orbit. Why consider the question using the Hubble, and not some hypothetical spy satellite? Well, the size of the Hubble's mirror was well known, whereas the size and configuration of spy satellites was still classified. "But," said the professor with a wink, "the sizing of Hubble was based in part on what was already known to be possible." The graphic accompanying the article shows a KH-9 that looks a whole lot like a Hubble.

    1. Re:Proven Technology by wiredog · · Score: 2

      And the answer is, well, no. Unless the license plate is laying flat on the ground, and the Hubble is in a 90 mile orbit. If the plate is on a car it's too far for a look from the side.

      And, as you said, this leaves out atmospherics.

      --

      Best Slashdot Co
    2. Re:Proven Technology by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "But," said the professor with a wink, "the sizing of Hubble was based in part on what was already known to be possible."

      Hubble's size, weight, and CG were based on what was possible within the Shuttle's cargo bay. The size, weight, and CG capabilities of the Shuttle's cargo bay were based on current and reasonable future spy birds.
       
      QED
       
      That being said, the optical path (and weight/CG) are probably going to differ somewhat between Hubble and a notional spy bird. Hubble looks straight out axially, while spy birds are generally believed to have a mirror that allows an axial camera to look out the side of bird. There's also some debate over whether or not the supposed mirror is fixed or movable. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches.

  5. Re:Latest Stuff by geoffrobinson · · Score: 2

    "human thought..."

    Are you wearing your tinfoil hat?

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
  6. The commercial outfits are now that good by Animats · · Score: 2

    Digital Globe and GeoEye now operate commercial imagery satellites. That's where Microsoft and Google get their imagery for areas where they don't have close aerial coverage. DoD buys a lot of their info. Best commercial resolution is 45cm. Which, realistically, is enough to find most threats that can be seen from above.

    Digital Globe has an analysis of Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan..

  7. Nice NOVA documentary by plopez · · Score: 2

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/astrospies.html

    I highly recommend it. The Soviets actually got a manned space satellite to work. Which is probably where they learned so much about extended space missions.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  8. Re:Latest Stuff by poofmeisterp · · Score: 2

    Oh yeah. That Sat' sure can read the brainwave patterns of a single Human being from 120 miles above the surface. Easy!

    Pfft.

  9. Re:It's nice to know stuff 60 years after it matte by x6060 · · Score: 2

    Wow, Thats amazing that you mention a book I read recently that doesnt point really any terrible things the CIA did. Its more of a history of the organization. Hardly anything as damning as you're trying to make it out to be.