This HEXAGON blog comes to an end-NOT!! See next entry

UPDATE - we will continue the blog for another year!! The blog got a reprive from Phil's wife, Pat. She’s covering the fees. I've tried to create a blog to get the word out - but it won’t publish it! ?? ..so we will be around for another year. Due to the way Squarespace works…you will see that the replies to your comments will still say they are from Phil. It’s really me. :>) ….but please continue to read these and comment, so I know you’re out there. - Ricky Deutsch

Since Phil Pressel passed away, I’ve been attempting to keep his blog active. However, I’ve seen very few readers. This is understandable as many others from the “good old days” have also died. The website account with Squarespace has been kept alive by his wife, Pat. However, the fees for another year are due April 6, and with the low participation and costs, the site will fade away.

HEXAGON is still alive for many of us. The development unit is at the National Museum of the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. I have been working with the NRO to secure a home for a second one that has been in storage. They want it on the west coast, but there are few options due to its size and security. Also, the alumni club of the SAFSP (Secretary of the Air Force Special Projects) is raising funds to construct a memorial at the museum to let the public know about CORONA, GAMBIT AND HEXAGON – and the men & women who kept it flying.

As we sign off, a tip of the hat to all of you – you dun gude! If you have comments before the curtain closes, I’ll read them and get back to you (leave your email address).

Over & Out.

Ricky Deutsch, Former Captain, USAF, Satellite Test Center, Sunnyvale AFS, CA, Hexagon Command Generation

HEXAGON TALK

I’ll be giving my Spies in the Sky-Reconnaissance Technology During the Cold War talk at the former Moffett Naval Air Station Museum on March 27, 2024 at high noon. Everyone is invited. The museum is near Hwy 101 & Moffett Blvd. - Next to NASA Ames. You only need a driver license to get on the base (US Citizen) - then ask where the museum is. It’s across from the front of the Big Hanger #1. It’s being re-skined.

—Rick Deutsch

From the Archives: Edward Aldridge, NRO Director, speech

On July 12, 1983, the day the 20th Hexagon Sensor Subsystem was shipped from Perkin-Elmer to the west coast, The Honorable Edward C. Aldridge, Under Secretary of the Air Force, Director National Reconnaissance Office, addressed a large group of Perkin-Elmer people who had participated in the design and manufacture of the Sensor Subsystem. A part of his speech follows.

"In June of 1971, the first of a new breed of satellite reconnaissance systems was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base and ushered in a new age in terms of satellite photography. The program success has continued almost  unabated and permits us to talk in glowing terms of performance characteristics such as: up to seven months on orbit; over 300,000 feet of film (60 miles); total mission area coverage nearly equal to the landmass of the earth. We didn't get to this point by accident; it was achieved through perseverance, technical competence and a lot of hard work. Many of you in the audience, I am sure, can remember the bustle of the initial years. In comparison, today must seem very serene. That initial launch in 1971 was not really the beginning but rather the culmination of a dream. This dream started in 1965 when your company became involved in a competition to build a revolutionary spacecraft capable of handling reconnaissance requirements fostered by the emergence of Russia and China as superpowers. In 1966, Perkin-Elmer was chosen to participate as an associate contractor in what has become one of our most important intelligence programs. It is hard to believe that seventeen years have passed since that date. However, the validity of that initial decision has been confirmed and reconfirmed with the passage of time. The success of the Hexagon Program has established the standard for all future satellite reconnaissance programs to emulate and a goal for our present systems. This success can be measured in many ways. For example, since the first launch in 1971, imaging lifetime has increased over 800 percent; film capacity has increased 50 percent; mission area coverage has increased 100 percent. Even with these impressive facts, it is impossible to measure Hexagon's considerable contribution to our national defense. This importance can be sensed only if we cite examples such as SALT verification, coverage of crisis areas like the Middle East, and terrain mapping for the Cruise Missile."

Rendering of the Hexgon mission

I think you’ll enjoy this video created by an interested private individual. It is the BEST showing of how the Hexagon vehicle operated. It’s by Military History in 1 minute. Check them out - he posted others - the V2 rocket history is great…..and they are indeed only a minute long! I hate interviews, etc. that run an hour…..time is precious and you have to decide what you are going to spend it on  Enjoy…  https://youtu.be/06Ys3THq9WM

Let's keep this KH9 Blog-site going

Friends of Phil: I gave tag-team presentations with Phil on the Hexagon Satellite. In the 70’s I was a Captain at the BLUE CUBE - Sunnyvale AFS, CA. I worked in Command Generation and Operations Director. When I discovered Phil and his presentation of the Optical Bars, I thought it would work best if I did the Command/Control and overview of launch, operations, tracking station interface and recovery —- then Phil could cover the complicated camera system. We did live and Zoom talks to a multitude of audiences.

As I come up with info, I’ll post it here. Please send a comment to let me know you are out there! If you have a story or anecdote, Drop me a comment and I’llget back to you on how to send the text/photos – I’ll then post it.

Hexagon Program - gone but not forgotten

The film-based intelligence satellite, KH-9 HEXAGON, was overshadowed by the KH-11 KENNEN electro-optical intelligence machine. One thing that iced the transfer to digital was the long time it took for critical intelligence to arrive at the end user. With KH-9 on-orbit duration times reaching up to 9 months, the 60-miles of film in the spools had to be allocated into the 4 buckets gingerly. The film had to last until the mission was completed.  If there were more buckets (there was discussion of mounting 6), the frequency of drops would have increased….and analysts could see events in denied areas closer to when they occurred.

By the time a bucket was commanded to be ejected, caught, flown to Kodak in Rochester to be developed, then to analysts in DC, the photos taken could be moot. Too much time had passed from the capture of the image until it was able to be viewed Time moves on and intelligence gets stale.

“Near” real-time analysis of developing events was a much better idea, from that perspective. However, the BIG advantage of using film in the first place was that wet-film can be enlarged many times and retain resolution.  Keep zooming in and the photo gets larger and does not become blurry.   Digital is pixels and while you can blow the image up…you’re really just making the pixels further apart. This without revealing any more information.

Hexagon and Kennen flew together for 10 years until the 1986 loss of the final KH-9 vehicle 20 – a victim of the launch gremlins. While Kennen is “kinda” declassified, the program is believed to still be alive and is a primary IMINT collector. Details are still classified.