ABSTRACT
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 657 CORONA: History and Meaning of the Program ................................................... 659 CORONA Camera Exhibit at CIA Headquarters ...................................................663 CORONA: Camera .................................................................................................663 CORONA: The Capsule ..........................................................................................669 CORONA: The Artifact and Its Preservation .......................................................... 670 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 675 Notes and References ............................................................................................ 677
The highly classi ed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)–Air Force CORONA photoreconnaissance satellite program operated from 1958 to 1972 and was America’s and the world’s rst successful space-based imagery collection platform. During its existence, 145 CORONA satellites were placed in orbit and brought back more than 800,000 usable photographs of the USSR and other nations’ territories that provided invaluable intelligence, which could not be obtained by any other means. The cameras and lm return capsules were carried on Agena upper stage rocket, which was launched by a Thor booster into a near-polar orbit. Once all the lm had been exposed, the lm return capsule and its protective heat shield separated from the satellite, reentered the atmosphere, and at about 12 miles altitude deployed a parachute that was snagged by an Air Force plane. The Agena with the cameras eventually reentered the atmosphere and burned up (Figure 36.1).
