Cold War secrets: Spy satellite photos lost at sea, then saved

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

by James Martin
August 10, 2012 4:04 AM PDT

Photos newly released by the CIA show how the Navy pulled off one of the deepest undersea salvage efforts ever and retrieved spy images of Soviet sub bases and missile silos.

On July 10, 1971, the third re-entry vehicle from the first Hexagon photo-satellite mission was lost when the parachute broke, sending the canister into the Pacific Ocean ... .

This was sensitive info -- high-resolution photographs of the Soviet Union's submarine bases and missile silos -- and the decision was made to attempt to recover the valuable intelligence data.

More: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57...ea-then-saved/



I'd recommend following the link and visiting the page. Some very interesting photos in my humble opinion

[The Baba Person]

Excellent. I enjoyed the article and photos. Thank you for posting.

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

You're very welcome, sir.

A little bit of history.

[ljrmisty]

As always, I have come to expect nothing less than the excellence that you post.

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

As always, I have come to expect nothing less than the excellence that you post.

It is Truly a pleasure to provide information when it is appreciated.

[T-5 Killer]

Very cool, a good read and some cool pictures. Thanks for posting

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

Very cool, a good read and some cool pictures. Thanks for posting

You're very welcome, sir

[Zoomie]

Thanks for the story, it reminds me of Project Azorian, the lengths that the CIA went to recover valuable intel. It's a shame that the story lacks any kind of substance to it, would have been interesting to know whether or not the film was intact, and what one of the photos looked like and what kind of definition they had.

[Elbs]

Really excellent stuff, as always.

[Lt-Col A. Tack]

Thanks for the story,

You're most welcome.

it reminds me of Project Azorian, the lengths that the CIA went to recover valuable intel. It's a shame that the story lacks any kind of substance to it, would have been interesting to know whether or not the film was intact, and what one of the photos looked like and what kind of definition they had.

I think one of the photos shows the film disintegrating on the trip to the surface. Too bad, all that effort for naught.

Really excellent stuff, as always.

You are indeed welcome, sir.