Usage conditions may apply for digital images, video, and sound recordings linked within SOVA collections. While digital content may be restricted, SOVA collection descriptions and catalog records are available CC0 for re-use. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
National Air and Space Museum Archives
Corona Program Exhibit Posters Collection
Summary
- Collection ID:
- NASM.2013.0029
- Creators:
-
United States. Central Intelligence AgencyUnited States. Air Force
- Dates:
-
bulk 1995bulk 1961-1970
- Languages:
-
English.
- Physical Description:
-
0.13 Cubic feet2 folders15 photographs20 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
More …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
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 |
National Air and Space Museum Archives
14390 Air & Space Museum Parkway
Chantilly, VA 20151
Business Number: Phone: 703-572-4045
NASMRefDesk@si.edu