National Air and Space Museum Archives

Corona Program Exhibit Posters Collection

Summary

Collection ID:
NASM.2013.0029
Creators:
United States. Central Intelligence Agency
United States. Air Force
Dates:
bulk 1995
bulk 1961-1970
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.13 Cubic feet
2 folders
15 photographs
20 x 24 inches
Repository:
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

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

Arrangement
Materials are presented in original order received.

Biographical / Historical

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.

Administration

Author
Allan Janus and Melissa A. N. Keiser
Immediate Source of Acquisition
National Reconnaissance Office, Transferred from the Space History Department, 2013
Processing Information
Arranged, described, and encoded by Allan Janus, 2013; updated and revised by Melissa A. N. Keiser, 2022.

Digital Content

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Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access.
Preferred Citation
Corona Program Exhibit Posters Collection, Acc. NASM.2013.0029, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Use
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

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Artificial satellites Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
KH-4 (Corona) Reconnaissance Satellite Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic reconnaissance systems Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cold War Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Aerial Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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