Joint effort from private Companies LikeGeneral Electric and the lockheed corporation. Next is a documentary that tells the story of the creation of the program, telling how the satellite was built and the challenges the designers faced. This project mark the First Successful recovery of film from space. From the recovery to the 1972, the project photographed more than 750 square miles of soviet territory. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [applause] good morning, ladies and gentlemen. For a moment, lets think back will point in time. October 24, 1957, to be precise. On that board the board of consultant activities submitted onk to president eisenhower the status of the Intelligence Communitys collection capabilities. And at the strong urging from , they called for a reassessment of the satellite reconnaissance system put into development by the air force. A complicated system based on electrical transmission of images from space. The 12 oxcartme Reconnaissance Aircraft was given a careful evaluation. The board held that while both were promising programs, the critical need for intelligence warrantedint in time an interim photo reconnaissance system that could get into operation earlier. This is a significant decision for the era. Just days before the soviet sputnik oneunched into range. The United States was over three months away from launching its first small satellite. The socalled missile lagged debate was already underway as the senate prepared the subcommittee to hold hearings on the issue. Respondedhouse rapidly to the recommendation. Dr. James killian, who had just assumed his new position as assistant to the president in science and technology arranged the meeting for the first week of december. Dulles andmr. Allen the deputy secretary of defense. At this meeting, eight weeks after sputnik one, the president decided to proceed with a joint air force photo reconnaissance row gram to answer the critical intelligence questions about intelligence missiles. Onthe system was to be based recovery from the vehicle, this marked the first of the remarkable corona project. The full import of the decision we be comprehended only if recall the primitive nature of our understanding of Space Technology and the critical need for hard intelligence information that existed at that point in time. Of 1957, the u2 had already spend a year over germany. It had never been intended to be operational for more than a year or two. The operational Life Expectancy was based on the likelihood that the soviets would in some months track it successfully and with accurate eta in hand being pressure to discontinue the flight. Misjudgedut we had the capabilities at the time. Their radar could track every flight. The soviets filed a protest. After that, over flights were flown only sporadically. Went overyears big u2 the rest of the world. Bed wentnt to around the rest of the world. Then we built corona, the worlds first photo reconnaissance satellite. Todays perspective, it is momentous. ,n the weeks after sputnik there was pressure from all quarters to accelerate the u. S. Missile and Space Program. There was much public debate about the military versus civilian control of the program. Suspectedme it was the president eisenhower would address the nation. Longrange Ballistic Missiles do not cancel these destructive and deterrent powers in our Strategic Air force. Earthunching of satellites is an achievement of the first importance. The scientists who brought it about deserve full credit and recognition. News useful new facts have been introduced with more on the way as new satellites with added instruments are launched. The satellites by themselves have no direct effect upon the nations security. However, there is real military significance to these launchings , as i have previously mentioned publicly. Their current military significance lies in the a danced technique and military technologies. Example, the powerful propulsion equipment necessarily used. Of february, 19 58, the president Gave Authority to all space projects under the newly formed advanced Research Projects agency. Off corona from the weapons system 117, the airport satellite program, was accomplished just 20 days later. At about the time that the cia headquarters was being built, project corona had begun. Thought of the beginning. Offering the best prospects for early success. It was placed under joint cia air force management. An approach that had been highly successful in developing and operating the u2s. The Development Project staff was formed under the direction of richard bushel. The special assistant director to plans and development. Wasair force counterpart Brigadier General rippling. He had served under. Gay he had given me clearance trucks and thats what the situation was about. He had done considerable homework in washington. Maybe you had better take it . Came aboard what kennedy called corona. It was even more informal and is organized. This time it was the land but it had been decided at the highest level that it would be managed like the u2. He appeared in my office to say , thatt had been taken program would be moving over to me. I didnt know what shifting it meant. He told me that it was a part of the 117 program in the air force. It was to be managed in the same way as the u2. Of course, he didnt answer any of my questions. Nothing about the duties of the organizations or what they were doing. The initial problem in the , the authority problem, was very different. It was already widely known at the time, from the study of the command at the air force, that the interim preliminary programs would not involve readouts but were fairly readily available in runningware and speed, the u. S. Half. Filma essentially produced that was recovered. The subject that you and i have addressed in our first meeting. As you have said, at about this time arc came into it existence. It seems to me that a decision was made at the white house on funding. That it would be the cia doing the funding. How it turned out for the first year of the program. Great advantage. Corona got underway in march of 1958 after a threeday conference. Among the cia, air force Ballistic Missile division, lockheed, General Electric, and fairchild. The meeting brought out that while the plans for the design were underway, it was far from complete. Major complications arose over the basic design of the camera. There was quite a lot to be decided. The program is going to use the stabilized camera on fairchild, which had no problem within the agency. The decisions that you and i made in the plans were proposed and required vehicle stabilization. Revolutionary because it was a success. A relatively new Optical Sciences firm formed by a group of scientists from the University Research center in boston. Hightech concepts propose a longer focal length lens for the camera and scanning with a stabilizer. The decision for this design was agonizing. Him relatively simple method of stabilization moving to one that was untried and technically more complicated. Lowervantages would be costs and much greater definition of intelligence targets. Takes aanoramic camera picture by rotating a lens through an angle, like this. In this model we just took the picture. Through a large angle. Camera, the lens after taking these panoramic pictures would rotate back into position for the next picture like this. Now, the trouble with that kind of action is that the high torque generated by the lens rotating in the two directions requires that they put a counterbalancing mechanism in so that the action will not vibrate or shake the entire platform. The electrical and mechanical complexity of counterbalancing the high torque reduce the reliability of the early model. The second version of the camera, the socalled j version is one in which we learned to separate the light part of the lens, the upper part of the lens from the heavy part of the lens. We would rotate the lens across. The way that the early camera did. Of the picture taking cycle, the heavy part of the lens would keep on moving. The light part would come back, not generating much disturbance. The heavy part would then be mechanically connected to it and synchronize with another picture taken. The 16th of april, 19 58, the final project proposal, including the high design, was staffto the president s secretary for review and approval. The proposal was promptly approved, although never invited into the strict security rules surrounding the program. Work on the approved plan continued immediately. Camera optics for optimal, using new computer graphic techniques. The hightech lens was a 24 inch focal length design. Were laters developed into at 35 c. Although relatively conventional, these were far from ordinary. At the time the corona lenses were made, they could influence quality over any that were previously made. Lens flags were taken from the finest available glass and , checked andion amounted to bring out the highest performance known to opt to call science. Optical science. The corona payload was a hybrid made up of mediumrange Ballistic Missiles and the second stage bell laboratories developed engine modified by lockheed. It is important to remember that , todaysoint in time commonplace reliability of systems was unknown. The vehicle consists of a forward section that encompasses the camera and the recovery system. Behind that, and electronics area that contains the sensor and the electronic power system and so forth. Finally on the back, the engine. The contractor chosen for the system was lockheed, which also contractor. E prime lockheed had a for integrating the payload, operating the launch preparation facility, and managing the subcontract. It was more than a means for placing the camera. The plan recovery sequence required a series of controlled maneuvers, any one of which was critical or the mission would fail. However, their most unique feature was the payload recovery system. History would show that the crucial decade of the 1960s intelligence scene could not have been served by the state of readout technology at the time. Actual recovery from space was necessary. Mannedld be noted that and unmanned u. S. Space recovery preventedere considerably by the Pioneering Technology developed for corona. The subcontractor was the General Electric company. The model of the front end right here, you see how it comes first, getting us out of orbit. The bodies were connected. When it went into its downward attitude, we were able to eject it out of orbit. Once we got into the return here wasy, the thrust ejected. This allowed the parachute to come out of the parachute cover. The parachute was allowed to unfurl and it lifted the capsule out. This is the capsule. With the heat shield happened after reentry. It was thrown away after it did its job. This was the capsule that we were after. Coronamission of the necessitated a low earth orbit to the north or south. However, the launch site must be one that prevented danger in highly populated areas. The lot the highly logical choice was the squadron already in place, the cook air force base renamed in october of 1958. Priorities,ghest the preparations for the test launch was completed. Firing the separations system. The second one. At the time we thought it had achieved orbit. Probably didnt make it. Last place was skeptical. It was the same token. Meanwhile the uncertainties about soviet missile capabilities mounted. Vice president nixon faceoff in what was known as the kitchen debate. There are some instances where you may be ahead of us. For example, in the development of the thrust of your rockets for the investigation of outer space. There may be some instances, however, where we are ahead of you. The third one launched a biomedical capsule in 1959 and achieved orbit. Due to an incorrect setting of a timing device, it was ejected over the north pole and came down in the snow near norway. The capsule was never recovered by a u. S. Team. A few years later a movie called ice station zebra offered speculation on the event. Problem after problem plagued the early launch. These were truly the days of space pioneers, where the solutions to last months failures only served four ideas for new problems with optimized solutions. However, the gravity of these events was nothing like at home. A prime example was the solution to the security requirements for the on pad payload cover. The design was eventually completed, but the interim solution came from pingpong balls, brown paper, and pml wire. Was then ahicle highspeed sports car, coming down range on the fit on the freeway. They avoided a speeding ticket for the test engineer. This design was phased out after one flight. Meanwhile, concerned about intelligence and the missile posture grew. It became a major item of debate in 1959. Of concern is a remark made by mr. Mcelroy about one month ago. He said that if the russians to collect missiles they were capable of, and if we build all the missiles we are planning to build, obviously the soviet enjoywill just it will an advantage. I would go under the assumption that they would hold all they can. That there think president , however expert he may be, has come to the wrong conclusion on the needs of defense. The Central Intelligence agencies estimate for 1969 contained footnotes by the army and air force intelligence agencies taking issue with the cia estimates of soviet missile strength. Discrepancies emphasize the need for heart intelligence. The u2 had improved the knowledge of the soviet union. But the critical questions went unanswered. Begin off for. 1960,the 10th of august, the diagnostic flight 13 was ready for launch. Orbital stage remains ready. At the time it was launched, there were a number of major problems waiting to be solved. Achieving accessible orbit. Operating the camera. And the allimportant recovery of the payload cells. Only. Will be by function on my mark . T minus five seconds. Mark. Telemetry quickly revealed that the 13 achieved orbit and that the initial positioning was correct. On the 17th orbit, the recovery package retro fired and descended normally, missiles missing impact points by 13 miles. Although beyond the range of the recovery aircraft, 13 capsules slashed down to near enough for a water recovery. Ever, manrst time orbited an object in space and recovered it according to plan. The capsule carried no film, but it did include the ability to beat the russians in their sputnik dog carrying capsule by nine days. In this, corona had paved the way through its backup technology for a splashdown recovery of the manned mission. President eisenhower probably proclaimed discovery 13 the first returning space voyager. History would show that much of the credit for the success was due to a new cold gas technique applied first to discover 13. Just eight days after this first success, discoverer 14 was launched. It carried a 20 pound payload. The satellite was on the verge of crumbling in the orbit. It finally stabilized by expending precious gas. Air force c 19s diploid in the attempts of catching the capsule and the secret space drama began. The satellite recovery vehicle was rejected ejected. This time the castle deployed into the ballpark. Squadronfrom the test raced to the proper coordinates. Capsulehe third try the was snatched up by pelican nine. Although the initial photography was substantially lower in resolution, it was of intelligence value. This one mission yielded more photographic areas of coverage than the total of all the missions over the soviet union. More importantly, the mission covered areas never previously reached. A new age of intelligence had begun. Meanwhile, the soviet Party Chairman visited the United States. Note, as heng side journeyed from San Francisco to los angeles by train, it took him through a part of the air force base within miles of the corona launch complex. While the chairman was sightseeing, still another launch was being readied. In the practice of the time, the countdown was halted to prevent unauthorized viewing. Launches were made during the window between trains. While khrushchev pounded the table at the united nations, our interpreters were busy evaluating the substance behind his boast. Today we hear a great deal about the soviet nine and 11 icbms. We know a great deal about these weapons. In fact enough to make these models. But much earlier in the 1950s our situation was very different indeed. In that year the efforts became involved in the analysis of soviet weapons systems. Also three major things occurred. First, we obtain photography of the soviet missile Test Facilities and learned the extent of that program. Settle secondly, mr. Khrushchev announced that they had achieved intercontinental Ballistic Missile capabilities. Most problematic was the beginning of the space era. Well before corona, soviets put into orbit sputnik one. Sputnik one was a dramatic illustration that the soviets possessed the capability to launch a weapon against the United States. But the main question was whether such weapons were being deployed. We could not provide an answer to the question, leading rather directly to the famous missile gap debates that occurred during the president ial campaigns of 1960. In that same year corona was successfully recovered. The film was brought back to the United States. We could begin begin to provide answers. 1960s wedle of the were confident that we could track the numbers of all types in the soviet union. This information made it possible for us to start to consider strategic arms talks with the soviet union. Because of the high confidence, we knew the exact number of successfully completed. On the 13th of december, 1960, 15 was turned along. Although 15 apparently worked properly, it reentered at the wrong attitude, causing it to fall outside the recovery zone. It sank before the recovery ship could reach it. When 16 in october failed to achieve orbit. 17 was then launched in november of 1960. It seemed to be a near perfect mission, except for