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Is there a good history of spy satellites anywhere? It ought to be amazing - I remember watching Ice Station Zebra as a kid, where super-spies fought to the dea

Is there a good history of spy satellites anywhere? It ought to be amazing - I remember watching Ice Station Zebra as a kid, where super-spies fought to the death over a canister of film, and now Google gives away better resolution photos. The US downgraded moon photos to prevent Russians getting an idea of the quality, Russian subs were analysed with one photo and a scratch on the titanium plating. It would be great to see that playing out - technology, analysis and politics shown together.

arethuza 6y ago
I had assumed that US missile infrastructure would be hidden in Google Maps, but apparently not: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/31/336847318/to-find-america-s-nukes-try-google-maps https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/31/336847318...
- swiley 6y ago
  That would require publishing a set of polygons covering all of it: literally a directory. I'm not sure that's a great idea.
- implements 6y ago
  There’s a treasure trove of related material on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minuteman+missile+silo+tour https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minuteman+missi...
  - cronix 6y ago
    My dad was a Capt. in the USAF in the mid 60's. He was stationed at Minot AFB, ND., and launched a new test Minuteman, but of course he didn't know it was a test at the time he and his partner were ordered to turn their keys during the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union. I have a plaque with the key he turned (the teeth were filed off though) along with a poster-sized color photo of the missile coming out of the ground and his issued 38 special S&W revolver. Since he was locked away underground with 1 other person for days at a time with no contact with the outside world, I was wondering why they had guns. He said it was in case your partner didn't turn their key after ordered to do so... One thing he got a kick of before he passed away, was using google earth to check out the old base. He was surprised at how much you could see.
    - panzagl 6y ago
      Why not Minot?
    - neolog 6y ago
      Seems like that would reduce the effectiveness of having two keys?
- nindalf 6y ago
  I believe some US military bases are hidden on Google Maps. But it's not an issue if you're trying to find them. You can derive their location from soldiers doing laps around the base and uploading their run data to Strava. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracki...
- ocdtrekkie 6y ago
  Presumably for any military capability the US has that's well known about, they probably have a backup plan less well known about.
- elzbardico 6y ago
  This is due to arms control treaties. The ICBM bases and other critical infrastructures can't be hidden, because the other side needs to be able to verify with their own eyes that you're complying with your part of the treaty, and vice-versa.
  - arethuza 6y ago
    As the Russian saying goes: Trust, but verify
black6 6y ago
You gotta do some digging through the archives at The Space Review[0], but Dwayne Day has some outstanding articles over there on NRO projects. Keywords to look for are HEXAGON and NRO. 0: https://www.thespacereview.com/archive.html https://www.thespacereview.com/archive.html
e12e 6y ago
You might find the fictional novel "Zenith Angle" by Bruce Sterling entertaining as well.
pjmorris 6y ago
It's about rocketry, but it winds up touching on spy satellites more than i expected: 'This New Ocean', Burrows.
CabSauce 6y ago
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scott+manley+spy+satellite https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scott+manley+sp... Scott Manley does great, approachable space videos and has done a few on spy satellites.
- crmd 6y ago
  Scott’s content is great. He’s my second favorite[1] Scottish technology YouTube channel. [1] https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtM5z2gkrGRuWd0JQMx76qA https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtM5z2gkrGRuWd0JQMx76qA
haldora 6y ago
The nonfiction book Into the Black by Rowland White has a portion about the Space Shuttle's use launching NRO satellites. This is a fascinating use of the shuttle not many talk about.

arethuza 6y ago

I had assumed that US missile infrastructure would be hidden in Google Maps, but apparently not: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/31/336847318/to-find-america-s-nukes-try-google-maps https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/07/31/336847318...

swiley 6y ago
That would require publishing a set of polygons covering all of it: literally a directory. I'm not sure that's a great idea.
implements 6y ago
There’s a treasure trove of related material on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minuteman+missile+silo+tour https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=minuteman+missi...
- cronix 6y ago
  My dad was a Capt. in the USAF in the mid 60's. He was stationed at Minot AFB, ND., and launched a new test Minuteman, but of course he didn't know it was a test at the time he and his partner were ordered to turn their keys during the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union. I have a plaque with the key he turned (the teeth were filed off though) along with a poster-sized color photo of the missile coming out of the ground and his issued 38 special S&W revolver. Since he was locked away underground with 1 other person for days at a time with no contact with the outside world, I was wondering why they had guns. He said it was in case your partner didn't turn their key after ordered to do so... One thing he got a kick of before he passed away, was using google earth to check out the old base. He was surprised at how much you could see.
  - panzagl 6y ago
    Why not Minot?
  - neolog 6y ago
    Seems like that would reduce the effectiveness of having two keys?
nindalf 6y ago
I believe some US military bases are hidden on Google Maps. But it's not an issue if you're trying to find them. You can derive their location from soldiers doing laps around the base and uploading their run data to Strava. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracking-app-gives-away-location-of-secret-us-army-bases https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/28/fitness-tracki...
ocdtrekkie 6y ago
Presumably for any military capability the US has that's well known about, they probably have a backup plan less well known about.
elzbardico 6y ago
This is due to arms control treaties. The ICBM bases and other critical infrastructures can't be hidden, because the other side needs to be able to verify with their own eyes that you're complying with your part of the treaty, and vice-versa.
- arethuza 6y ago
  As the Russian saying goes: Trust, but verify

black6 6y ago

You gotta do some digging through the archives at The Space Review[0], but Dwayne Day has some outstanding articles over there on NRO projects. Keywords to look for are HEXAGON and NRO. 0: https://www.thespacereview.com/archive.html https://www.thespacereview.com/archive.html

e12e 6y ago

You might find the fictional novel "Zenith Angle" by Bruce Sterling entertaining as well.

pjmorris 6y ago

It's about rocketry, but it winds up touching on spy satellites more than i expected: 'This New Ocean', Burrows.

CabSauce 6y ago

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scott+manley+spy+satellite https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scott+manley+sp... Scott Manley does great, approachable space videos and has done a few on spy satellites.

crmd 6y ago
Scott’s content is great. He’s my second favorite[1] Scottish technology YouTube channel. [1] https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtM5z2gkrGRuWd0JQMx76qA https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtM5z2gkrGRuWd0JQMx76qA

haldora 6y ago

The nonfiction book Into the Black by Rowland White has a portion about the Space Shuttle's use launching NRO satellites. This is a fascinating use of the shuttle not many talk about.