ACSM-CaGIS
Half-Day Workshop
Wednesday April 2nd,
8am-12pm
Yuma 23
CLANDESTINE
CARTOGRAPHY:
AMERICAN CARTOGRAPHY AND THE EARTH
SCIENCES THROUGH THE KEYHOLE OF CLASSIFIED
RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAMS, FROM CORONA TO
GAMBIT TO HEXAGON (1958-1980)
Keith Clarke, UCSB
&
John Cloud, Cornell University
Schedule
• Part 1: The Cold War Context
– Introduction
– NRO history video
• Part 2: How CORONA Worked
• Part 3: The Imagery and its Uses
• Part 4: The Institutions and
Programs
Part 1: The Cold War
Context
The Cold War
• WWII General Werner von Fritsch (German Chief
of Staff) “The nation with the best photo
reconnaissance will win the next war” (1938)
• Lt. Col. Richard S. Leghorn: oversees
reconnaissance for D-Day, then Bikini Attol tests
Able and Baker.
• AAF established Boston University Optical
Research Laboratory -> ITEK (1946)
• Amron Katz RAND “crash” studies in 1946-7
• 1947 Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Vandenberg
captures project for the Air Force
Cold War Pressures
• Captured V-2 program and missiles
• Further nuclear progress: H-bomb in 1952, Soviets
in 1954
• SAC created in 1946, in 1955 went 24/7
• Denied territory
• Bomber and missile gaps
• Eisenhower proposes Open Skies 7/18/55
• Sputnik 1957, Soviets develop first ICBM,
Khrushchev declares “we will bury you”.
• 1962 Cuban Missile crisis, imagery key
CORONA’s Origins
• 1950/1 start of RAND Project FEEDBACK.
• December 1953 separated WS-117L at Wright Air
Development Center. Languished.
• Vanguard program was to lead establishment of
open space
• GENETRIX program 1953-4 640 “weather”
balloons. C-119 capture designed, ITEK HYAC
cameras used.
The Birth of CORONA
• TALENT imagery seen as high risk. U-2
AQUATONE first flew 1955.
• By 1958 WS-117L went deep black and became
CORONA.
• Project Feedback became SAMOS
• Francis Gary Powers shot down in May 1st 1960
• Replacement SR-71 OXCART came in 1965
• But, in August 1960 CORONA achieved its first
success
Significant Dates
•
•
•
•
•
•
28 February 1959 # 1 CORONA test launch attempt
12 August 1960 #13 1st successful recovery from space
18 August 1960 #14 Took 1st image from space
25 May 1972 #145, last CORONA, launched
31 May 1972 Last images of the series taken
24 February 1995 Executive Order for CORONA
declassification announced (EO-12921)
• 24 May 1995 Ceremonies at Central Intelligence
Agency and National Air & Space Museum
• 20 September 2002 GAMBIT and HEXAGON
Declassified under EO-12921
The intelligence significance
“The arrival of the Discoverer 14 film at PIC was marked by
a special presentation. During the U-2 overflights, the
practice had been established that the photo interpreters
would have nighttime briefings in the PIC auditorium. They
were shown a map of the Soviet Union, with a squiggly line
showing the route of the U-2, and were briefed on its
important targets. When they assembled for the briefing on
Mission 9009, PIC Director Arthur Lundahl told the photo
interpreters that it was “something new and great we’ve got
here.” Jack Gardner opened the curtain over the map of the
Soviet Union. Instead of a single squiggle covering only a tiny
part of the USSR, there were eight broad bands running
north to south across the whole width of the Soviet landmass.
The photo interpreters began to cheer.” (Peebles, 1997, p.91)
“…it was as if an enormous
floodlight had been turned on in a
darkened warehouse.” (Day et al.,
1998)
NRO history movie