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vYASH1J\iGTO:"J 25. D. C. 

111111/111111111111111111111111111111/111/11111111111111111111111 14 000243940 

~~~~LE V:A BYEMAN C0XTRC~ SYSTEM ONLY 

~he 50norable Alexander Flax 

2irector) National Reconnaissance Office 

~epartsent of Defense 

~ashington, D.C. 

Dear" 

On 23 February 1967 you forwarded to me a report prepared 

by a group convened under your auspices to study and recommend 

seelll'ity cl'i-ceria for NRP equipl~ent wh,ich might be made available to NASA. This report was undertiken in response to 

Reco~mendation #7 of the NSAM 256 Ad Hoc Committee!s report of 

11 July 1966 and you will recall that I delayed taking action 

with respect to the report of your group because of possible 

cOD,fIiet with a Pl'oposed NASA program to use a GAMBIT camera 

in earth orbit. In light of your letter of 22 August 1967 

advising of NASA!s action to terminate this particular program, 

.;" ":.ereby approve the findings 3.l'c.,d l'ecommenda t ions of the 

report transmitted by your letter of 23 February 1967 and believe that this report should be used as a basis for NRO ~ealings with NASA on equipment and technology. I am sending 

a eopy of the report to the Chairman of the NSAM 156 Ad Hoc 

Committee and to each member. 

Sincerely, 

Richal"'d }~elms 

Director 

}-IP"NDLE VIA BYEJ:1.P'AoN 

CONTROL SYSTE?vl O~LY 

BYE #0138-67 

COIJY /' .......,..'-----

Approved for Release: 2018/02/01 C05101984 

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Approved for Release: 

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2018/02/01 C05101984 

... ,.,"'~ l 

~~e ~o~o~~ble Foy D. Kohle~ 

~2~~ty Under Secretary of State 

~2~ar~~cnt of State 

~:,';: s :: i :, s; ton, D • C • 

2oy: 

2 J SE? 1337 

tt7' of 

II July 1966 recommended ~~;:t: 

156 Ad Hoc Committee report 

liThe Director of Central 

Intelligence, in consul~ation wi~j the Director of 

~econnaissance Office, s~ould ~cview and establish 

sec~rity res~rictions on ca~eras and other sensing 

tr12 Xa t :!..o:nal 

3.DD:roDriate ~ ~ . apparatus 

and c~uip~ent which can be Dade available for NASA's program 

of ~on-military applications of sa~ellite earth-sensing. It 

is recognized that substantial compa~tmentalization will 

probably have to remain) but t non-military programs should 

be enabled to profit frOD relevant achievements of the military 

:J:'-'0g·::'~2..rj1 -~o t~e exten:: f e~s i"0:e .. fi :::1 TGSpOBS e to tl1~S recommendation a small group of experts was convened by Dr. Flax 

and has co~platad a report containing findings and recommendat~o~s which I have approved. I a2 attaching a copy of this 

ra~ort and expect that ~t will be used as a basis for NRO dealil:~'S \v:"t~: N}~S ... L\. on equip;nel-:t :: .. n.G tGci'lliology i11 line v/ith 

~eco~~endation #7 noted above. 

" .,..... • .1.1 ... .;,. • 

BYE #520LJ:2-37 

Cordially, 

~~icha:cd l-:elms 

Direc~.:or 

Sea~a~s, XASA w/~~t, cy 1, Series B 

~:l2...:"'~ ... l(8} DOD \v/2..·~t} c'57 2~ Sel~ies B 

~lax, NRO w/o att 

7ishar, ACDA w/~t~, cy 3, Saries B <~., ..., 'oY"l rl"'C I' '11/"" .,.... "":"-'- ;::;;,;.G.l.G. .LA 'J 01...:-:.. ,. \.) L/~ v .... 

Keeny, White Zouse w/a~t, cy ~, Series B 

u0:J.~:SOl1, \'/;-li-::::e I-=cL:s8 v//2..~~~~} cy 5) Se~'"'ies B 

~1/2;ls~:) Xp~SC Vl/-:"~~~C) cJ c;} 32:--i2S :3 

~~x=~~ VIA BYE~AX/~ALEXT­

~EY~GL= SYS7E~S JOINTLY 

3\fE /10139-67 

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, Approved f~r Rel~ase: 2018/02/01 C051 01984: " ~ilf1I!\U I,j , ",. ~l\.:.J~.w ~u..w i.l 

DEPARTMENT OF THE 1\IR FORCE~ '( .,. 

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CON'mOl.. SYGn:r,,;s J.O.jN~·' 

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MEMORAi~DUM FOR DR. FLAX, 

'SUBJECT: Project ARGO 

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Recently, while briefing various Dorian-cleared Army :. '.":.;:;~: !::· .. i;: 

representatives on MOL, the' subject of Project ARGO arose :;~ <~: .. ;~~::"::.:';;; i . (because of my prior in:volvement with the Army Engineers)· .. :»~···::;; ... ;','. ,I 

and I was offered a status re.port on its progress to date.'., :(;', .. :.:'.,: .... I 

I visited Autometrics for that purpose on October 16 •. ' . ,~:' J~"~:"\ .. ! 

There follow some impressions from my ra,ther brie~ exp?sure /' .. <; :':'i:: '.:' ! ~ .. to this, undertal<ing. " ',', .:, .. :,.f" .; : 

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As you probably know, a team of eleven scientist/ 

engineers from Commerce, Agriculture, Interior, and AID .. 

(headed up by Mr. ' Cox 'from AID) is conducting this analysisl:.: 

study. The effort got underway in July with an orientation:" 

course at NPIC:' Apparently) they started out to analyze a 

rather sizable area in central South America, quickly: ~<" ,; 

concluded that was too huge a task, and focused' in on three >:.,';'>:;-;,"; 

.' represe.ntative smaller areas (near La Paz; in northeastern :.:' . ';: '. " . 

. . Bolivia; and near Montevido). They have been working mostly:' ':'~;"" '~" .'. 

with KH-5 and KH-4 material, supplemented by KH-7 and its:,:::: ;,<.;:, 

index camera., I understood they will receive some material" . :. <:,'.:; 

from the KH-8 and its index camera in the near future." 

Most of the effort to date appears to have been spent.' :: .:,'. 

in PI-type orientation -- by NPIC, Autometrics, and self- .. ;':>; .. , 

acquired -- and in preparing the basic foundations for their" ~'.:' .. ', 

analyses (i. e., detailed overlays of topography, water net-,,' ",:--~:> .. ~'.: 

works, meteo:rology patterns, transportation, population .' -:.,,;.':~'';':!:',':~ 

centers, etc.). Perhaps more analysis has been done to date. '.,i· ::\.", 

than was my impression, as several scientist/ engineers did' . ' ..... ,; ... ': 

give some good examples (re farmable land, water flow, etc.').;' .... ,'.,,' 

of what Can be learned from TK photography. In any event ,',>; '!/"'~':'.'~.' 

the group as a whole now appears' to be moving rapidly in. the',::':>::, :<.: 

analysis process-.':., :::>:,., ." ". /' ,. '" ';. ; :: .. ':'-''';-:.''; .. :. , '7 ..'" "-:;:',,::' , ;.< .. ,~::); .. ,;::., .. ,': ' .. '". ' I' , , .' :. : :." ' , : ,; '.'. '.,", ;", •• ' " • :.:. • ~ •• 

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S'(GM\i'~·TALENT·KEYHOLE .,.~:":,:. •. 

CO,",TiiOI.. SYSTEMS J.OlNTL.Vj·' .... :1.' " :.1. " , Pugo -J:"'oi';;J~ pages " .. :' .. :: '':: 

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r.1r. Cox made arl interesting o1)servation in his intro- 1, :(. 'I 

ductory/background remarks. He pointed out that the group~:-:' ; ,'" 

upon initial exposure to TK material, had almost unlimited; ; ,! ,'" 

enthusiasm for its potentiaL Shortly thereafter , however,; ;" ':J ,: :\' 

upon closer examination, each individual's enthusiasm took I (' ,'''::~ , 

,'a sharp nose-dive when he discovered that there was a great " , doal o£ inform.a.t:ion which could ... ot: bo QQ.sily dorivQd from' I'" ,I 

the material. Subsequently, there appar.ently has been a ",' ' 

slm., build-up tn' enthusiasm (and morale) as each person spent '; 

more time analyzing. ", ",,' 

In an informal session with Mr. Cox and several others,' 

I cautioned them against becoming so involved in analyzing 

" these three palZticular areas that they overlooked the main " 

point, which -,.i,,;'in my opinion -- was analyzing the usefulness ,', 

of this material,' In this 'regard, I suggested they also try 

to arrive at some resolut'ion "plateau" which provide$ a ,:",1 

useful baseline for all areas, and which could be supple- " ',: ' 

mented by higher-resolution photography for particular areas. 

I also suggested they look at obliquity in this same respect.," 

One particular geographical area (I believe it was 

similar to a salt flat or dry lake bed) clearly indicated 

a need for color photography -- at least, in certain' 

situations. This information had only been derived from the ," 

black and white photography because Mr, Cox had seen these ,:; ; , 

areas during his AID tours in South America. 

I understand the next phase of their analyses involves 

test areas ~n the US and that various material (colo'r, IR, 

etc.) will be available to the group • 

• ~ note' that this group is mad,e up strictly of Government 

employees. It 'seems to me that at some future date the 

purely scientific (educational institution) and profit 

organization inputs' should be obtained. In particular, with', 

regard to the latter, someone from a la~ge A&E organization 

(like Sverdup & Parcel who are world-wide and multi-functional 

in nature), and perhaps also from oneo£ the oil industry' ,;, .' ' , ': 

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C()i\.NOl.. ;:;;Y.:;;TE:MS ,J.OIN,il..Y.. 

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BYEMAN-TALENT .l<EYHOLE' 

CON'TROl.. SYSTEMS ::J01Nrl...y. . 

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"giants", should be cleared and given the task of analyzing 

the worth of this material from their viewpoints. : >'" 

I have passed along the above and other commen,ts to 

Dr. Steininger. No action on your part is recommended at 

this poin~ in ~ime. :,;':, 

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~jor General, USAF 

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