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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

MEMORANDUM

October 20, 1971

NOTE FOR DR. HALL

During Colonel Bradburn's briefing to

you on the National Reconnaissance Program

you asked several questions for which we

promised answers. They are attached. If

we missed any or you wish further information

please call on us.

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%TOP-SECRETCORONA FLIGHT HISTORY 

The first attempt to launch a Discoverer satellite,

on 21 January 1959, was aborted by the premature ignition

of the accessory rockets on the upper stage. The second

stage vehicle was severely damaged and the Thor so affected

that it had to be withdrawn for major overhaul.

Discoverer I -- actually the second scheduled flight

vehicle -- left the Vandenberg launch pad on 28 February 1959

and successfully established an orbit with an apogee of 605

miles and a perigee of 99 miles. Although somewhat more

eccentric than planned, it represented success. No capsule

was carried and no recovery attempted.

Discoverer II was also reasonably successful in establishing

orbit following its 13 April launch. Unhappily, a malfunction

in the satellite's timer caused the capsule to be ejected halfway around the earth from the planned recovery zone.

It descended near Spitzbergen. Although the Air Attache

in Norway made a thorough search of the probable descent area,

no sign of the capsule could be found. The missing capsule

had carried "mechanical mice," electronic devices rigged to

record biomedical effects data.

Discoverers III and IV, launched on 3 June and 25 June,

failed to reach orbital velocities because Agena thrust did

not meet expectations. The 3 June flight carried another

biomedical payload, but the 25 June vehicle contained the

first of the CORONA cameras. Because of the failure to orbit,

no data on camera operating characteristics were obtained.

Discoverers V and VI were sent into orbit on 13 August

and 19 August. In both instances the Agena upper stage

functioned properly but the recovery sequence was in some

fashion abnormal with the result that neither capsule was

recovered. Discoverer V capsule was injected into high

orbit because of improper positioning when re-entry sequencing

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began. For the purposes of the CORONA program, the inability

to recover was no more disappointing than the fact that

telemetry clearly showed camera failure to have occurred

on either the first or second revolution of the Earth in

each instance.

The next two Discoverer flight trials, on 7 and 20

November, were as disappointing as their predecessors.

Discoverers VII and VIII both experienced subsystem failures

which prevented recovery of the capsule. And in neither

instance did the camera system function properly.

Not until February 1960, after two months of intensive

corrective engineering, were the launchings resumed-. Unhappily, neither of the boosters used in the February flights

(Discoverers IX and X, 4 and 19 February) functioned properly

and in neither case did the Agena go into orbit. Some

additional complications were provided when it proved necessary to destroy Discoverer X during its climb out, showering

portions of Vandenberg Air Force Base with assorted residuals

of the flight vehicle.

On 15 April 1960, Discoverer XI went into orbit but the

recovery system again malfunctioned. Telemetry, however,

indicated that for the first time the camera had functioned

perfectly, all 16 pounds of film passing through the subsystem into the recovery capsule.

Discoverer XII, carrying diagnostic instrumentation,

climbed away from the Vandenberg launch stand on 29 June

1960, but only briefly. Erratic horizon scanner operation

had caused a nose-down position during separation of the

Agena from the Thor booster.

Because of such factors the launch of Discoverer XIII

on 10 August 1960 took on added importance. The second of

the diagnostic flights programmed into Discoverer had become

a hinge on which the fate of the future program possibly

depended.

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Launch, orbit, capsule separation, and re-entry of

Discoverer XIII, on 10 August 1960, were near perfect.

Although confusion among the C-119's in the impact area

prevented aerial recovery, the capsule was retrieved from

the water 94 miles south of its predicted descent point.

Discoverer XIII carried neither camera nor film, being fully

occupied by instrumentation and telemetry equipment essential

to the diagnostic mission of the flight.

Discoverer XIV, launched on 18 August, paralleled the

performance of its predecessor in most important respects.

Additionally, it carried a CORONA camera, and the camera worked

perfectly. Although the Agena had less than optimum pitchdown angle at the time of capsule separation, and the capsule

actually descended 430 miles south of the predicted impact

area, the C-119's were on hand to complete a smooth aerial

recovery -- the first in history.

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LAND PANEL MEMBERSHIP 

Following is a list of members of the Land Panel

(formally the Panel on NRP Matters under the President's.

Science Advisor Dr. Edward David). Dr. Edward M. Purcell

recently resigned from the Panel.

Dr. Edwin H. Land, Chairman

President

Polaroid Corporation

Dr. James Gilbert Baker

Harvard Observatory

Harvard University

Dr. Sideney D. Drell

Stanford University

Dr. Richard L. Garwin

IBM Watson Laboratory

Dr. Donald P. Ling

Executive Director

Military Research Division

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Dr. Allen E. Puckett

Hughes Aircraft

Aerospace Engineering Division

Dr. Joseph Shea

Vice President & General Manager,

Equipment Division

Raytheon

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Dr. Marvin L. Goldberger

Professor of Physics

Institute for Advanced Studies

Dr. John Martin

Executive Secretary

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NSAM 156 COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

The National Security Action Memorandum 156 Committee

was established in May, 1962 to formulate national policy

on satellite reconnaissance matters. The Committee has

met at infrequent intervals through the years to readdress

specific issues or initiatives, but has always reaffirmed

the basic policy established by National Security Council

Action 2454, approved July 10, 1962.

This summer the question of flying a fairly high resolution camera aboard the NASA SKYLAB spacecraft was raised to

the Committee. . In addressing the qUestion to the Agencies

participating on the NSAM 156 Committee, Ambassador U. Alexis

Johnson's office identified the following as the current

Committee Membership:

Ambassador U. Alexis Johnson, Chairman - State

Honorable David Packard - OSD

Dr. John L. McLucas - NRO

Dr. James C. Fletcher - NASA

Dr. Henry A. Kissinger - NSC

Mr. Philip J. Farley - ACDA

Mr. Gerard Smith - ACDA

Mr. Richard Helms - CIA

Colonel William Anders - NASC

Dr. Edward David - OST

A working group composed of members from each organization

performs staff actions for the Committee

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CIA RECCE PROGRAMS 

(Mr. Carl E. Duckett) 

OSA (Aircraft)

OSP (Satellites)

OEL (Office of ELINT)

ORD (Office of Research and Development)

MANPOWER SUPPORT TO THE

NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE PROGRAM

The figures listed below are the full time and full

time equivalent man years of effort in support of the

National Reconnaissance Program.

PROGRAM A 

(II/Gen Lew Allen, Jr.) 
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PROGRAM D 

(Col Frank Hartley) 

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