KH-6 Lanyard
{{Short description|Series of unsuccessful reconnaissance satellites by the United States}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
File:Thor Agena D with Corona 61 (Mar. 18 1963).gif
File:Thor-SLV2A Agena-D Thor 364 KH-6 2 (USAF).jpg
BYEMAN codenamed LANYARD, the KH-6 was the unsuccessful first attempt to develop and deploy a very high-resolution optical reconnaissance satellite by the United States National Reconnaissance Office.{{cite web|title=NRO review and redaction guide (2006 ed.)| url=http://www.fas.org/irp/nro/declass.pdf|publisher=National Reconnaissance Office}} Launches and launch attempts spanned the period from March to July 1963. The project was quickly put together to get imagery of a site near Leningrad suspected of having anti-ballistic missiles.{{Cite web |title=NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=P11 |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}
The satellite carried Itek's "E-5" camera developed for the SAMOS program, which had been cancelled. The camera had a focal length of {{cvt|1.67|m}} and could discern objects on the ground {{cvt|1.8|m}} in size. The ground swath of the camera was {{cvt|14|x|74|km}}. The satellite weighed {{cvt|1500|kg}}, and had a single re-entry vehicle in which exposed film was returned to earth for a mid-airFederation of American Scientists [http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/kh-6.htm FASorg: KH-6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021004842/http://www.fas.org/spp/military/program/imint/kh-6.htm |date=21 October 2012 }} aircraft recovery.
The KH-6 was manufactured by Lockheed Martin and launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thor-Agena D launch vehicles.{{Cite web |title=KH-6 Lanyard |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kh-6.htm |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}
Launches
KH-6 8001 was launched from Vandenberg AFB aboard a Thor-Agena D launch vehicle (Thor 360){{Cite web |title=Thor Agena |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/thor_agena.htm |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}} at 00:00:00 GMT on 18 March 1963. It was the first of three KH-6 LANYARD launches. This mission was a failure because the Agena guidance system failed.{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=P11|title=NASA}}
KH-6 8002 was launched from Vandenberg AFB aboard a Thor-Agena D rocket (Thor 364) at 22:34:00 GMT on 18 May 1963. This was the second launch KH-6 LANYARD satellite. This spacecraft achieved orbit but the Agena rocket failed in flight and no film data were returned.{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1963-016A|title=NASA}}{{Cite web |title=NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1963-016A |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}}
KH-6 8003 was launched from Vandenberg AFB aboard a Thor-Agena D rocket (Thor 382) at 00:00:00 GMT on 31 July 1963. This was the third and final KH-6 (LANYARD) mission that was designed to provide very high-resolution photos (61 cm), but the best resolution achieved was 183 cm, the same as KH-4B, so LANYARD was discontinued after this 3rd flight in 1963. The camera failed after 32 hours.{{Cite web |title=NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details |url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1963-032A |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov}} The mission was deemed a success but the image quality was poor.{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/displayTrajectory.action?id=1963-032A|title=NASA}} The film canister contained over 2,250 feet of film with 910 photographic frames.
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}{{Commons category|KH-6 LANYARD}}
- CORONA KH-1 through 4 (concurrent operations)
- KH-5 ARGON
- KH-7 GAMBIT
- KH-8 GAMBIT-3 (concurrent operations)
- KH-9 HEXAGON or "Big Bird"
- KH-10 DORIAN or Manned Orbital Laboratory
- KH-11 KENNEN, KH-12, KH-13.
- Satellite imagery
- Cold War
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
- Mark Wade (9 August 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20040516043935/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/kh6.htm KH-6] Encyclopedia Astronautica Accessed April 23, 2004
External links
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/kh-6.htm KH-6 Lanyard.] globalsecurity.org
{{NRO satellites}}
{{US Reconnaissance Satellites}}