America's First Satellite Surveillance
Next page | Previous page | Return to top of story

Early Discoverer on the launch pad at Vandenberg. he Corona Project was America's first satellite surveillance effort. The Corona satellites were launched from pads set in coastal sage brush at Vandenberg Air Force Base, on the coast of Santa Barbara County. Artist's impression of Corona in orbit.

Thor booster in action.
Launch...

 orona featured an evolving series of marvelously sophisticated cameras that used a special polyester film base designed just for the program - though we all use it now, under its later name "mylar". After the cameras photographed the world from polar orbit, the exposed film was jettisoned back to earth near Hawaii, in a capsule fitted with a parachute designed to be snagged
by special planes.
High speed movie cameras for tracking launches.
High speed movie cameras mounted on anti-aircraft
used for tracking launches.
Launch through orbital operations sequence.
orbital operations,...
Reentry through recovery sequence.
reentry,...
Catch of a Corona capsule off of Hawaii.
and recovery.
  he capsules were designed to float, so that if the plane missed, Navy boats could retrieve them. In case the boats missed, the capsules were fitted with salt plugs that would dissolve after two days in the ocean, causing the capsule to sink beneath the waves, so the film could never fall into enemy hands.

he nation's first satellite surveillance program started with one-day missions and a single camera taking photos with limited resolution of 25 to 40 feet.Twisted wreckage of a failed launch. The first 13 missions didn't provide any images. There were problems with everything - heart-breaking failures.  

KH-1 through 4, Argon, and Lanyard cameras.
KH-1 through 4,
Argon and Lanyard cameras.
 he first successful Corona flight on August 18, 1960, covered more than 1.65 million square miles of Soviet territory and produced 3,000 feet of film. By the mid 1960s Corona cameras could make stereo photographs, which allowed cartographers to derive the relief of terrain below the satellite. Corona payload and optics.
 
KH-4B camera on display at the CIA History Office.
KH-4B camera on display at the CIA History Office.
  
KH-4B camera and film spools.
Schematic of KH-4B camera and film spools.
  

Evolution of cameras from 1959 through 1972.
Evolution of cameras from 1959 through 1972.

 

he first Corona photo showed a Soviet air base on the shores of the Arctic Ocean - later systems could show a parking lot at the Kremlin or locate missile silos.
 
Soviet air base. issions eventually were as long as 19 days with multiple cameras and images with resolutions of 6 feet. Early Corona image of the Pentagon.
Corona image of Santa Rosa Island.
Corona image of
Santa Rosa Island,
Channel Islands, California.
Argon image of the Santa Barbara Channel.
Argon image of the
Santa Barbara Channel,
California.
1966 image of the South Coast.
1966 image of the South Coast, Goleta and Santa Barbara,
California.




Next page | Previous page | Return to top of story