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.

Philip Pressel June 22, 1937 – October 18, 2023

Philip Pressel

June 22, 1937 – October 18, 2023

Phil was born in Antwerp, Belgium to Miriam and Joseph Pressel. Phil and his parents fled to France when Hitler invaded Belgium. They were in hiding until the end of the war. Phil was sheltered for a time in Vourles, France by the Sabathiers, a kind Catholic family.

After the war, the family immigrated to New York as his dad was hired by the United Nations as a translator. Joseph Pressel died at age 51. His mother supported the family as a seamstress and died at 104. Phil attended Stuyvesant High School, NYU, and the University of Pennsylvania.

He worked as a mechanical engineer, mostly at the Perkin-Elmer Corporation, working on top secret programs. His greatest challenge was designing the cameras for the Hexagon Spy Satellite.

Phil had four children: Allan, David, and Linda and six grandchildren: Robert, Adam, Austin, Julia, Zachary, and Elliot. He was predeceased by his son, Stephen. The “love of his life” was his wife, Pat. After retirement they moved to San Diego and later to Sudbury, Massachusetts. Phil loved retirement. He wrote two books (They are Still Alive, a biography and Meeting the Challenge, a book about the Hexagon satellite). He often spoke to groups about the Holocaust, Hexagon and designing instruments for space. He loved officiating Track and Field meets, traveling and swimming.

His niece, Nancy Connors, blessed him with 17 ½ years of life by giving him a kidney. Thanks to Pat’s family for being so kind and accepting of him and for supporting Pat through all his medical challenges. He was the “kindest of men”. He will always be in our hearts. He died of pancreatic cancer. His final days were spent at Care Dimensions Hospice House, being cared for by gentle people. A Celebration of Life was held in Virginia. Donations can be made in his name to Care Dimensions Hospice House, 125 Winter Street, Lincoln, Massachusetts, or your favorite charity.

I was a collegue of Phil’s for his later public speaking work. We did “tag team” lectures. He covered the camera and I gave the program overview and command & control areas. I was a Captain at the Sunnyvale AFS “Blue Cube” controlling Hexagon. I will continue this blog to provide news and anecdotes of Hexagon since declassification. - Ricky Deutsch

HEXAGON GOES PUBLIC UPDATE

Phil Pressel, formerly of Perkin-Elmer, Danbury, CT, was the lead engineer for the Hexagon optical bar (cameras). Ricky Deutsch, is former Captain at the Satellite Test Center, Sunnyvale, CA. They have teamed up to present the history of Hexagon, the last film-based satellite.

Now that the program has been declassified, they are on a mission to share this important piece of Cold War technology with the public at large. Ricky gives an overview of the mission and how command & control was performed by the Satellite Control Facility. The SCF comprised the Sunnyvale Mission Control Complex, the six remote tracking stations and the Hawaii recovery aircraft.

The top-secret program provided the CIA with high resolution photos of denied areas around the globe. With 19 successful missions from 1971 through 1985. Hexagon served as the “Trust but Verify” mechanism for Soviet treaty compliance.

Phi led the design of the actual cameras (optical bars) and was part of a team of approximately 1,000 people who designed and developed the extremely complicated Hexagon system. The Hexagon spy satellite was able to take photos with about two-feet resolution, as well as area photos over 300-feet wide. The entire landmass of the earth was captured. The vehicle orbited at approximately 100 miles above the earth at a velocity of about 17,500 mph. The speed of the film was precisely synchronized with the speed of the image at the focal plane and was thus able to take blur- free photos.

The exposed film was collected in four on-board recovery containers that would be ejected periodically during the months-long missions. JC-130 aircraft from Hickam AFB, HI would be dispatched to snag the payload via parachute at 15,000 feet.

The speakers have given the talk at several venues and via ZOOM. These include: The Naval Postgraduate School; The San Diego Air & Space Museum; chapters of the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, The Armed Forces Communications & Electronic Assn and The Air & Space Forces Association; The Sunnyvale (Silicon Valley) Museum; Vietnam Veterans; and the Astra company (rocket manufacturer). There are plans for Vandenberg Space Force Base, The Midway Aircraft Carrier, San Jose State ROTC, The Military Officers of America Assn, aerospace companies universities, museums, etc.

 For information on bringing this presentation to your company, association, DoD, military alumni group, universities, etc., contact: Ricky.Deutsch@Gmail.com

Jon Aspinwall sent me this commendation from General McLucas.

Paul Convertito

Remembering Paul Convertito 2-19-22

 Paul Convertito 87, passed recently, was the Manager of the Systems Department  of the Optical Technology Division of Perkin-Elmer in Danbury, Connecticut and a major contributor to the success of the Hexagon spy satellite camera system. Hexagon was the last US film-based reconnaissance satellite and helped keep peace in the world from 1971 to 1986. There were 19 successful orbit launches during those years that photographed the entire landmass of the earth and took stereo photos of military assets of our enemies. 

 Paul led the engineering group that negotiated and helped define the government’s requirements for the performance of Hexagon. From the beginning he interpreted and helped analyze optical data and understood the difficulties of synchronizing the speed of the film at the focal plane perfectly with the speed of the image. 

 He was also a really nice guy and so interesting to talk to. In the beginning of the program in the 1960’s and 1970’s when smoking was not prohibited, he loved smoking cigars. He especially relished them after so many of our design reviews with our customer. He had a good relationship with senior government and industry leaders as well as our senior managers and all the key engineers. 

 On a personal level he was a friend and trusted colleague. He loved to go on his motor boat for outings on Long Island Sound. We have been retired for many years now but will still miss him. Phil Pressel

50th Anniversary

To all my former colleagues who worked on Hexagon, 

 Do you remember where you were on June 15, 1971? This was the day of the first launch of Hexagon from Vandenberg AFB and its 50th anniversary is just a few days away. You can celebrate again, since its declassification in 2011, by reminding your friends and relatives of your pride in having worked on it. 

 I was in the war room along with a few of you listening to a squawk box describing the countdown. It was not at all like the TV launches with Walter Cronkite. There was little chatter, then "lift off" then, a few words here and there, then  "vehicle is in orbit." Those of us there cheered and that was it. 

 All the seats in the room were taken when I came in so I sat on a table and a few minutes later Mike Maguire came in and sat next to me. We shook hands before leaving the room. 

 I think that none of us realized at that time how important that was, as the beginning of about 15 years of unprecedented intelligence gathering that allowed President Reagan to say "Trust but Verify." 

 Good health to all and be safe.

 Phil

San Diego

June 910 2021