Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Satellite (2013)

Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by michaf on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @04:30PM (#29558115)

So, if it's true that these KH-12 spy satellites are basically modified versions the Hubble space telescope, would it be reasonable to assume that Webb will get copied in a similar way for spy satellites?

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by nyokodo on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @04:32PM (#29558162)

> would it be reasonable to assume that Webb will get copied in a similar way for spy satellites?

Unlikely. You have the origin mixed up. The spy satellites came first, and then Hubble.

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by mturmon on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @05:29PM (#29559000)

Yes, the spy satellites were first by a long shot. The KH-11 (2.4m mirror, CCD focal plane) was first launched in 1976. Hubble (2.4m mirror, CCD focal plane) was launched in 1990.

The shared mirror size is not a coincidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KH-11_KENNEN#Size_and_mass

The two also share a multi-billion dollar budget.

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by 6nf on Wednesday December 15, 2021 @02:18AM (#29562975)

The mirror size is largely limited by the size of the vehicle launching the satellite into space, if I recall correctly.

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by ArnoVW on Tuesday December 21, 2021 @03:32PM (#29641760)

Which in turn is based on the size of a equine derriere, as the story goes.

https://www.precisioncontent.com/blog/on-rocket-ships-and-ho...

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by twinge on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @05:27PM (#29558972)

Next comes the space telescopes that are based on the KH-11 spy satellites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_National_Reconnaissance_O...

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by echelon on Wednesday December 15, 2021 @01:32AM (#29562787)

The space shuttle was funded and designed to meet Department of Defense specifications. Its cargo bay designed to ferry satellites up and to potentially return them back to earth.

https://www.space.com/34522-secret-shuttle-missions.html

https://launiusr.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/nasas-space-shuttl...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Department_of_Defense...

The Hubble design was remarkably close to Keyhole:

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/3448/was-hubble-re...

Keyhole satellites were seriously cool. Photos were taken on film, and the film reels were jettisoned over the ocean. C-130 transports would capture the payloads as they parachuted back to earth:

https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/us/declassified-spy-satellite...

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by micah94 on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @05:04PM (#29558648)

Doubtful, I think Webb only sees in the infrared. Looking at the earth would blind it. This is why it'll be a million miles away protected by a fancy heat shield.

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Re:Photos of a KH-12 Kennan Keyhole Secret Military Spy Sate... by BrazzVuvuzela on Tuesday December 14, 2021 @05:38PM (#29559095)

> Looking at the earth would blind it

Wouldn't that depend on how much dynamic range it has? Webb is intended to look at very dim signals in space so Earth would blind it, but if a spy-Webb were intended to track rocket or jet engines, things quite hotter than the rest of earth, perhaps it might be capable of that?

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