CIA Archives: The Corona Program - Military History, Satellite Imagery (1972)
DVD: www.amazon.com More CIA films: thefilmarchived.blogspot.com The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the US Air Force. The Corona satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union (USSR), the People's Republic of China, and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972. The name of this program is sometimes seen as "CORONA", but its actual name "Corona" was a codeword, not an acronym for anything. The Corona project was pushed forward especially following the shooting down of a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union in May 1960. 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), and 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 and the earlier numbers were retroactively applied. There were 144 Corona satellites launched, of which 102 returned usable photographs. The procurement and maintenance of the CORONA satellites was managed by the Central Intelligence Agency, which used cover arrangements lasting from 1 April 1958 to 1969 to get access to the Palo Alto plant of the Hiller Helicopter Corporation for the production. In this Advanced ...
Теги: cia corona program facts 1960 wikipedia space sdk american reconnaissance satellites central intelligence agency directorate science technology us air force surveillance soviet union ussr people's republic of china u2 spy plane incident panoramic cameras photographs luis alvarez sidney drell richard helms spacecraft black operations projects
