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But are they declassifying the actual documents this time? > The CIA started feeding flawed shuttle designs — NASA rejects — to the Soviet spies, which they pa
by readyplayernull 3y ago
But are they declassifying the actual documents this time?
> The CIA started feeding flawed shuttle designs — NASA rejects — to the Soviet spies, which they passed off as new “improvements.” It worked. Included in the phonies were outdated heat shield designs that could have risked the spacecraft burning up on reentry.
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/real-life-rogue-one-how-the-soviets-stole-nasas-shuttle-plans https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/real-life-rogu...
- wolverine876 3y agoDeclassification for contractors and the CIA passing disinformation to enemy intelligence are very different things.
- golergka 3y agoIs it? Wouldn't enemy intelligence see these contractors be the prime targets for infiltration?
- huytersd 3y agoHow cool. I wonder if we still do awesome things like this.
- nwah1 3y agoClinton tried to give fake nuclear weapons designs to Iran. Unfortunately, the nuclear scientist patsy they used, who was supposed to just deliver the designs, noticed some flaws. So he corrected them. So they now have the real designs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Merlin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Merlin
- huytersd 3y agoThat’s just cool from an Iranian perspective. What a boss move.
- mjhay 3y ago> The CIA started feeding flawed shuttle designs — NASA rejects — to the Soviet spies, which they passed off as new “improvements.” It worked. Included in the phonies were outdated heat shield designs that could have risked the spacecraft burning up on reentry. They could have just given them the updated designs. Those risked burning up on reentry too (and of course did in the case of Columbia).
- bagels 3y agoYeah, joke's on NASA, the whole program and all the designs were flawed.
- sciencesama 3y agoNow we know it is a feature, not a bug !!
- vba616 3y agoYou've probably heard of the ceramic tiles on the Space Shuttle and how they had to inspect each one. And the story about the Soviets using a pencil instead of the US "space pen". Somewhere I read about an early space capsule that had ablative shielding made of hardwood, oak or something several inches thick. "Carbon fiber composite", right? The way I remember it, it was said to work well because the wood was dense and didn't just burn up; instead it slowly carbonized. If you've ever made a fire with a large log, it makes sense. It has to get really hot to catch, and then it lasts a long time. But I remember it as being attributed to the USSR, and when I search the internet now, I get hits saying it was a story about the Chinese space program that might be apocryphal.
- LargeTomato 3y agoIf you squint really hard Wood is a carbon fiber composite. Sort of.
- noSyncCloud 3y agoIt's important to note that pencils are terrible in space and a pen that worked in space was necessary (having graphite dust floating around in all your electronics is generally considered poor form). The pen was developed by someone interested in solving this problem, and NASA bought some, for obvious reasons. So did the Soviets.
- mr_toad 3y agoWhat do you mean by it worked? The only flight of the USSRs space shuttle was successful, it seems they either ignored or fixed any flawed designs.