3 ms·

I suspect all of the comms were encrypted.

• mannykannot 8y ago
  I had not thought of that, but there are a couple of quotes that suggest that clear images were technically an option[1]: Shuttle Commander Gibson: "So in other words, the resolution on the encrypted video was that bad that they based a conclusion on it that was in gross error. ... If I had said hey, I think this is important enough for us to break the encryption and send you guys clear video, oh, it would have been pandemonium down there at DOD. But in hindsight, oh man, that's what we should have done." Ascent-Entry Flight Director Wayne Hale: "We were struggling in those days to try to maintain the security classification, so on and so forth... When the crew reported they saw this stuff, we had a long negotiation as I recall with the customer to say well, can we look at the TV? Because we weren't supposed to see any TV from on orbit. (They said) absolutely not. Could we look at the bottom side of the shuttle? That was the agreement, that we could, but we used this special slow-scan TV. And it was grainy." So it looks like a case of "the rules are the rules, period." [1] https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090327sts27/ https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts119/090327sts27/