Spy Satellite Info Just Declassified
 

http://www.space.com/13287-secret-sp...ifes-work.html

Cool stuff. Was on display for only one day.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

Shared this with my friends tonight.

Way interesting.

I'm curious about how they reloaded the film in this thing. Astronauts must have dropped off fresh film in secret. Makes me wonder what other secret things they do.

That's awesome. What's crazy is how many people we know that do this sort of thing and we'll never know.
FYI_
The dark side of the moon is just framework.

Bear in mind that this was way before the shuttle program. Without the STS, in-orbit servicing of satellites wasn't really practical. In theory, an Apollo mission could have been modified to dock with a satellite and service it, by replacing the lunar payload with additional fuel and equipment, however the last Apollo mission was in '72, after which there were just a couple of Skylab missions.

Ok, I can hear the conspiracy theorists talking about "secret" missions that we didn't know about. Obviously the spacecraft themselves were launched in "secret"...


What little I've read on it suggests that the cameras were not reloadable. The spacecraft carried 4-5 reentry vehicles, and had lifespans ranging from two to nine months. A total of 19 were launched into service.

I was thinking something more along the lines of an EVA and not docking. However I was also assuming that they reloaded a single satellite and not that they continued to launch new satellites (I did not see that they sent 19 of these up in that article).

I have a friend who works for the NGA, and some of the stuff he's told me about modern imaging is absolutely amazing. He's of course never quite candid, but something he told me that's stuck with me is, "Whatever it is that you think we're doing, we're 20 years ahead of that."

Well, prior to the STS program, the whole idea of servicing a satellite while in orbit wasn't really practical. That was one of the big selling points used to push the shuttle through- not only could it deploy satellites, but it could service and upgrade them while on station and even recover them for return to earth if necessary.

i like how the falling film canister was caught by a plane.