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December 27, 2011

"Ah Hexagon"

hexagon.jpg

"I thought they were crazy. They envisaged a satellite that was 60-foot long and 30,000 pounds and supplying film at speeds of 200 inches per second. The precision and complexity blew my mind. This was light years before Google Earth," Prusak said. "And we could clearly see the pool in my backyard." -- Decades later, a Cold War secret is revealed - Yahoo! News HT: Neatorama

Posted by gerardvanderleun at December 27, 2011 7:44 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

I don't remember where I saw it, but years ago I read that the Hubble Space Telescope was basically a civilian version of the KH-11 spy satellite, and that its optics were deliberately configured incorrectly in order to conceal the true capabilities of the KH-11. (You'll recall that a Shuttle mission was required to install corrective lenses and make the telescope usable.)

The Hubble's mirrors were built by Perkin-Elmer, too, so you would think that they would be able to get it right...if they wanted to.

Posted by: rickl at December 27, 2011 4:23 PM

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