SAMOS to the Moon: The Clandestine Transfer of Reconnaissance Technology Between Federal Agencies

Abstract

Among those who share a passing interest in the history of astronautics, two popular myths remain in vogue. The first contends that the U.S. Air Force, which began American work on reconnaissance satellites with the SAMOS Project failed in the late 1950s in its efforts to create a near real time film imaging system. Second, and entirely dependent on the first axiom, the electro-optical imaging system developed later by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) represents the first application of near real time satellite imaging. The actual story, as you might suppose at this point is rather different. Conceived in the mid-1950s, the novel SAMOS imaging system at that time represented cutting edge technology, a near real time analog filmreadout satellite. The Eastman Kodak Company built the E-1 preliminary and E-2 (advanced) payloads.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA599956

Entities

People

  • R. C. Hall

Organizations

  • National Reconnaissance Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Astronautics
  • Information Operations
  • Military Operations
  • Payload
  • Reconnaissance
  • Reconnaissance Satellites
  • Satellite Imaging
  • Spacecraft
  • Standards

Readers

  • Educational Psychology
  • Library and Information Science/ Studies, Southeast Asia Studies, Bibliography of Vietnam and Lao Studies.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites