Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!ncar!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!pyramid!prls!gordon
From: gordon@prls.UUCP (Gordon Vickers)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: Info wanted on Atlantis "secret" military satellite payload
Message-ID: <17388@prls.UUCP>
Date: 9 Dec 88 17:37:16 GMT
References: <684@pyuxd.UUCP> <1988Dec4.225033.18207@utzoo.uucp> <6464@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU> <12418@bellcore.bellcore.com> <1988Dec8.001846.26121@utzoo.uucp>
Reply-To: gordon@prls.UUCP (Gordon Vickers)
Organization: Philips Research Labs, Sunnyvale, California
Lines: 22

In article <1988Dec8.001846.26121@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
>
>However, if what you've got is a shuttle-unique payload (which at least
>some rumors claim the KH-12 is), you just have to settle for what you

    A PBS show I watched a several months ago ( Spy Satellites ) claimed that
 we had but one KH-12 left in orbit and it was being used sparingly.  They
 reported it's resolution as being good enough to tell if as little as
 six inches had been added to a structure's height (missles in particular).

    They also mentioned that a newer version, the KH-14 had been build and had
  even better resolution but could not be deployed until the shuttle 
  launches resumed.

    So, I'd like to take the pleasure of starting another rumor as to what
  this last shuttle's payload was: it was a KH-14 (an educated guess based
  solely upon the contents of the program I watched).

    Better resolution than the KH-12 ?  My gosh, what do they want to do,
  identify birth marks ?  Should I cross post this to rec.nude ?  :-) 

Gordon Vickers 408/991-5370 (Sunnyvale,Ca); {mips|pyramid|philabs}!prls!gordon