posted 06-01-2014 10:45 AM               

In this real life spy saga, James E. David reveals the extensive and largely hidden interactions between NASA and U.S. defense and intelligence departments. The story begins with the establishment of NASA in 1958 and follows the agency through its growth, not only in scope but also in complexity.

In "Spies and Shuttles," David digs through newly declassified documents to ultimately reveal how NASA became a strange bedfellow to the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He tracks NASA's early cooperation — supplying cover stories for covert missions, analyzing the Soviet space program, providing weather and other scientific data from its satellites, and monitoring missile tests — that eventually devolved into NASA's reliance on DoD for political and financial support for the Shuttle.

David also examines the restrictions imposed on such activities as photographing the Earth from space and the intrusive review mechanisms to ensure compliance. The ties between NASA and the intelligence community have historically remained unexplored, and David's riveting book is the first to investigate the twists and turns of this labyrinthine relationship.

• Hardcover: 400 pages
  
• Publisher: University Press of Florida (January 27, 2015)
  
• ISBN-10: 0813049997
  
• ISBN-13: 978-0813049991

posted 06-01-2014 11:43 AM               

It is believed to resemble the Hubble Space Telescope in size and shape, as the satellites were shipped in similar containers. Furthermore, a NASA history of the Hubble, in discussing the reasons for switching from a 3-meter main mirror to a 2.4-meter design, states: "In addition, changing to a 2.4-meter mirror would lessen fabrication costs by using manufacturing technologies developed for military spy satellites." A CIA history states that the primary mirror on the first KH-11s measured 2.34 meters, but sizes increased in later versions. NRO led the development of a computer controlled mirror polishing technique, which was subsequently also used for the polishing of the primary mirror of the Hubble Space Telescope.

posted 06-02-2014 10:08 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by cspg:
But then what does the shuttle have to do with this?

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posted 06-02-2014 11:35 AM               

...the Challenger accident led to a cancellation of the policy of moving all national security payloads to the shuttle. If this upgraded KH-11 did eventually enter service, it probably never flew aboard the Space Shuttle, but instead used the Titan IV.

posted 04-21-2015 06:32 PM               

Even though Congress's intention in forming NASA was to establish a purely civilian space agency, according to David a combination of circumstances led the agency to commingle its activities with black programs operated by the U.S. military and Intelligence Community. This often tight cooperation did not, however, keep disputes from bubbling over on issues such as cost sharing, access to classified information, encryption of data originally intended for civilian use, and delays to military satellite launches caused by the Challenger disaster.

Over the years, classification restrictions have kept most of the story of NASA's secret activities out of the public eye. Today's (April 10, 2015) posting brings to light previously unpublished primary source material that underpins Spies and Shuttles and other important literature on the subject. The records were acquired through agency declassification review procedures, specific declassification requests, and archival research.