The United States' first photographic reconnaissance satellites were designed, launched, and operated as the Corona program by the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Science and Technology, and by the US Air Force. Operating between 1959 and 1972, Corona KH (Keyhole) series satellites provided worldwide photographic coverage, surveying ballistic missile development and nuclear sites of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. This collection consists of fifteen 20 x 24 inch photographic prints used in a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) conference or press event in 1995, the year that the Corona program was declassified, 35 years after the first successful mission.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of fifteen 20 x 24 inch color photographic prints (predominantly reproducing black and white aerial photography) which were used in a National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) conference or press event in 1995, the year that the Corona program was declassified, 35 years after the first successful mission.
Arrangement:
Materials are presented in original order received.
Biographical / Historical:
The United States' first photographic reconnaissance satellites were designed, launched, and operated as the Corona program by the Central Intelligence Agency's Directorate of Science and Technology, and by the US Air Force. Operating between 1959 and 1972, Corona KH (Keyhole) series satellites provided worldwide photographic coverage, surveying ballistic missile development and nuclear sites of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Images were shot on film canisters which were ejected from the satellite, and were then recovered by specially modified aircraft during parachute descent. The Corona program was declassified by executive order in 1995, making over 800,000 photographs available to the public.
Provenance:
National Reconnaissance Office, Transferred from the Space History Department, 2013
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
KH-4 CORONA reconnaissance satellite photograph of a Soviet SS-5 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) site at an unidentified location, circa 1968. Poster made for a 1995 National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) conference or press event commemorating the thirty-fifth anniversary of the first successful CORONA mission.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
Corona Program Exhibit Posters Collection, Acc. NASM.2013.0029, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
KH-4 CORONA reconnaissance satellite photograph of the Imeni Gastello intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) complex, Derzhavinsk, Kazakhstan, 1967. Poster made for a 1995 National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) conference or press event commemorating the thirty-fifth anniversary of the first successful CORONA mission.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
Corona Program Exhibit Posters Collection, Acc. NASM.2013.0029, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
