Keeping with the spirit of TBT, lets talk about how spy and observation satellites used to work before digital photography became a thing.
[COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)][SIZE=5][B]Corona (satellite)[/B][/SIZE]
The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology[COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)] with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force[COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)]. The Corona satellites were used for photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union[COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)] (USSR), the People’s Republic of China[COLOR=rgb(0, 0, 0)], and other areas beginning in June 1959 and ending in May 1972.
The Corona satellites used special 70 millimeter film with a 24-inch (610 mm) focal length camera. Manufactured by Eastman Kodak.
Initially, each satellite carried 8,000 feet (2,400 m) of film for each camera, for a total of 16,000 feet (4,900 m) of film. But a reduction in the thickness of the film stock allowed more film to be carried. In the fifth generation, the amount of film carried was doubled to 16,000 feet (4,900 m) of film for each camera for a total of 32,000 feet (9,800 m) of film.
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[SIZE=5]Film Recovery[/SIZE]
Film was retrieved from orbit via a reentry capsule (nicknamed “film bucket”), designed by General Electric, which separated from the satellite and fell to earth. After the fierce heat of reentry was over, the heat shield surrounding the vehicle was jettisoned at 60,000 feet (18 km) and parachutes deployed. The capsule was intended to be caught in mid-air by a passing airplane towing an airborne claw which would then winch it aboard, or it could land at sea. A salt plug in the base would dissolve after two days, allowing the capsule to sink if it was not picked up by the United States Navy. After Reuters reported on a reentry vehicle’s accidental landing and discovery by Venezuelan farmers in mid-1964, capsules were no longer labeled “Secret” but offered a reward in eight languages for their return to the United States. Beginning with flight number 69, a two-capsule system was employed. This also allowed the satellite to go into passive (or “zombie”) mode, shutting down for as many as 21 days before taking images again.Beginning in 1963, another improvement was “Lifeboat”, a battery-powered system that allowed for ejection and recovery of the capsule in case power failed. The film was processed at Eastman Kodak’s Hawkeye facility in Rochester, New York.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/CORONA_film_recovery_maneuvar.jpg/220px-CORONA_film_recovery_maneuvar.jpg
Corona film recovery maneuver
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/CORONA_Recovery_System_Payload.png/220px-CORONA_Recovery_System_Payload.png
Corona film bucket payload
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Film capture