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The espionage capability he's referring to wasn't the ability to launch satellites, it was the ability to recover them. Including Russian ones!
by DuskStar 8y ago
The espionage capability he's referring to wasn't the ability to launch satellites, it was the ability to recover them. Including Russian ones!
- kijin 8y agoRecovering satellites sounds odd in our age of ubiquitous high-speed digital communication. But back then, pictures taken by a reconnaissance satellite were recovered by having rolls of used film thrown at the Earth for airplanes to catch in mid-air [1]. Using a shuttle would have looked awfully simple compared to that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite)
- jonlucc 8y agoIf you have a chance, a few of these satellites are on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH. Last time I was there I took a few pictures of the KH-7, KH-8, and KH-9. https://imgur.com/gallery/P89GME7 https://imgur.com/gallery/P89GME7
- dsl 8y agoThe X-37B drone (a space shuttle replacement for the Air Force) is suspected to be doing exactly that. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russia-china-should-fear-the-x-37b-space-plane-18099 https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/why-russia-china-...