Hexagon: Sentinel of Liberty — National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Video

John Greenewald — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 00:23:22 +0000

Background

This video was declassified and released to The Black Vault in NRO Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Case F-2017-00169 and F-2017-00170. Both cases were answered with a single response and release of two videos — Hexagon: Sentinel of Liberty and Gambit: Eye of the Eagle. Although released before, these videos were at a higher resolution than previously released.

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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request Response:

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The post Hexagon: Sentinel of Liberty — National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) Video first appeared on The Black Vault.

Recovering a Secret Spy Satellite Capsule from Underwater Ice Station Zebra – 16,400 Feet below

John Greenewald — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:14:49 +0000

Introduction

The Trieste II (DSV-1), the Navy’s most advanced deep sea submersible at the time, surfaced about 350 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands in the pre-dawn hours of 26 April 1972 after recovering a mysterious item. Publicly called a “data package,” the object was actually part of a U.S. spy satellite, codenamed HEXAGON. Before today’s digital technology, photoreconnaissance satellites used film, which returned to Earth in capsules ejected from the satellite. The capsules, called “buckets,” reentered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed a parachute to slow their descent. During the first HEXAGON mission in 1971, the parachute broke off causing the bucket to crash into the ocean. This release includes photos of the capsule on the ocean floor, pictures of the Trieste II (DSV-1), and an article recounting the deepest undersea salvage then attempted. We also linked to the Naval Undersea Museum, where the Trieste II (DSV-1) is on permanent display.

An Underwater Ice Station Zebra: Recovering a Secret Spy Satellite Capsule from Booklet cover of Underwater Ice Station Zebra16,400 Feet below the Pacific Ocean [36 Pages, 6.21mb]