Corona's Mission

CORONA'S MISSION

The goal of the Corona project was to take detailed photographs of large areas of the Earth from orbit. To do this, the project team had to meet three major technical challenges:

Design a camera able to take high- quality photographs from an altitude of more than 160 kilometers (100 miles) while moving faster than 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) per hour relative to the ground.
Point the camera and keep it steady while taking sharp pictures of specific sites.
Return the exposed film safely to Earth.

NARA#: 54, RG 263

Dozens of companies and many thousands of people labored in secret to develop and operate the technologies for Corona.

CORONA'S CAMERA

The camera displayed here is a reconstructed KH-4B, the type used in the Corona project during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Objects as small as 2 meters (6 feet) across could be seen in photographs taken by this camera. It was declassified and donated to the Smithsonian in 1995.

Gift of the National Reconnaissance Office

188 k jpeg
SI#: 97-15881

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Reproduction not available

Camera manufacturer:	Itek Corp.
Launch vehicle:	Thor-Agena
Vehicle manufacturer:	Lockheed

Camera tech label graphic: KH-4B schematic

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NARA#: 57, RG 263

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Space Race > Satellite Reconnaissance > Corona's Mission > 1-2 >> Corona and the Cold War