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