MOL

So let see what image resolution and task had the Keyhole Satelliten

KH-1 to 4 CORONA - 0.91 m ( 3 ft ) - surveillance - 1959 to 1972.
KH-5 ARGON - 140 m (460 ft) - Military Mapping - 1961 to 1964.
KH-6 LANYARD - 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) - high definition surveillance - 1963.
KH-7 GAMBIT 1/2 - 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) - high definition surveillance - 1963 to 1967.
KH-8 GAMBIT 3 - 0.28 to 0.56 m (0.92 to 1.84 ft) - high definition surveillance - 1966 to 1984.
KH-9 HEXAGON - 9.1 m to 6.1 m (30 ft to 20 ft) - Military Mapping - 1971 to 1986.
KH-10 DORIAN - under 0,10 m (4 in) - high definition surveillance by Astronauts - never launch
KH-11 KENNEN - 6 cm (2.4 in) - high definition surveillance - 1976 to today ?
KH-12 MISTY - 6 cm (2.4 in) - high definition surveillance - 1990-2012? - stealthy KH-11 KENNEN ?
KH-13 EIS - 5 cm (2 in)? - high definition surveillance - 1999-???? - stealthy successor of MISTY ? - Improved KH-11 ?

note: better list with NRO data below

Thoughts:
KH-6 had only 3 launches with none to poor results and was cancelled (parallel program to KH-7?)
KH-7 in contrast to KH-6, had better image resolution of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) improve to 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) with GAMBIT 2
Since KH-9 was Mapping only, was KH-10 planned successor for KH-8 ?
Here issue that MOL had only Five manned mission, what could imply that Unmanned KH-10 were planned ?
or even later KH-10 is resupply by gemini ferry or by Shuttle ?
or put KH-10 optic into shuttle payload bay for one orbit mission ?

Some of NRO documents for MOL imply those options
 
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KH-8 did much better than that: 2.3 inch ( = 6 cm), close from the Fried limit. They achieved this by going as low as possible: 70 miles / 113 km. At this height, the atmosphere shook the satellite and blurred the pictures (they must have found a solution as 2.3 inch, blurred, would make no sense at all).
 
Michel Van said:
So let see what image resolution and task had the Keyhole Satelliten

KH-9 HEXAGON - 9.1 m to 6.1 m (30 ft to 20 ft) - Military Mapping - 1971 to 1986.

Since KH-9 was Mapping only, was KH-10 planned successor for KH-8 ?
Click to expand...

Your resolution for HEXAGON is too low, publicly released information puts the resolution at 2-7ft (from nadir to 60 degrees off). Remember HEXAGON was wide area search system, intended to replace CORONA.
 
according this NRO document

KH-1 to 4 CORONA - 29 ft - surveillance - 1959 to 1972.
KH-5 ARGON - 460 ft? - Military Mapping - 1961 to 1964.
KH-6 LANYARD - 5 ft 11 in? - high definition surveillance - 1963. (part of SAMOS)
KH-7 GAMBIT 1/2 - 5 ft 11 in - high definition surveillance - 1963 to 1967.
KH-8 GAMBIT 3 - 5 ft 11 in - high definition surveillance - 1966 to 1984.
KH-9 HEXAGON - 13 ft 6 in- Mapping for CIA - 1971 to 1986.
KH-10 DORIAN - 2.5 in - high definition surveillance by Astronauts - never launch
KH-11 KENNEN - 2.5 in? - high definition surveillance - 1976 to today ?
KH-12 MISTY - 2.5 in? - high definition surveillance - 1990-2012? - stealthy KH-11 KENNEN ?
KH-13 EIS - 2 in? - high definition surveillance - 1999-???? - stealthy successor of MISTY ? - Improved KH-11 ?

notes:
From KH-11 on the Resolution is still classified
Robert Perry mention that HEXAGON is CIA program and allot Dokumentation was not available to him

More here
 
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Your numbers are still bad.
CORONA started out with really low resolution, but best resolution for the KH-4B was a little better than 6 feet.
KH-7 GAMBIT-1 was at best around 2-3 feet.
KH-8 GAMBIT-3 was at best 4 inches (although somebody who worked on it told me that the best resolution was 2.4 inches). I think that the original goal for the program was around 12 inches.
There are the official HEXAGON numbers and the real ones. According to a guy who worked on the camera system, the best ever HEXAGON resolution was 6 inches, but you won't find that in any unclassified source.
 
blackstar said:
CORONA started out with really low resolution, but best resolution for the KH-4B was a little better than 6 feet.
KH-7 GAMBIT-1 was at best around 2-3 feet.
KH-8 GAMBIT-3 was at best 4 inches (although somebody who worked on it told me that the best resolution was 2.4 inches). I think that the original goal for the program was around 12 inches.
There are the official HEXAGON numbers and the real ones. According to a guy who worked on the camera system, the best ever HEXAGON resolution was 6 inches, but you won't find that in any unclassified source.
Click to expand...
You got source on that ?
 
Michel Van said:
You got source on that ?
Click to expand...
F1fU7FUaAAEsE23.jpg

Even these numbers are a bit off. The KH-4B J-3 camera did a little better than six foot resolution for its best missions. The KH-6 was really about 2 feet. But there was only one successful mission, and there was a problem with the camera after a few passes, resulting in degraded imagery, so it was probably "at best" 2 feet, and the number on this chart is the average. The KH-7 was probably at best 2 feet, but it started out lower on the early missions.
 
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My apologies for appearing to pry into a forumite's offline identity.

I don't care about your offline identity.

If you are going to say that someone has wrong information, I expect a source given. Especially if it's a potentially classified piece of information. Pointing at an open document keeps you out of legal trouble!

I have tried to keep to this standard myself, though I probably haven't done a very good job at it.
 

Mysterious MOL concepts​

Long forgotten manned military space station ambitions​

by Hans Dolfing
Monday, October 28, 2024​


The year 1963 was a year of turmoil in the United States. On the military side, the US Air Force had left the Army and Navy behind with efforts on military manned space flight. In the tug-of-war between civilian and military spaceflight goals, the Military Orbital Space Station (MODS) was cancelled and discussion on a more national space station picked up steam. At the same time, the US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, during his seven years in office, exercised influence to de-emphasize military manned spaceflight in favor of civilian space exploration. On the civilian side, just as NASA and the Apollo program were picking up speed to go to the moon, the visionary John F. Kennedy was murdered and Lyndon B. Johnson took over.
Click to expand...
 

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