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DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCEWASH INGTON

OFFICE OF TH E UNDER SECRETARY

November 18 I 1963

Dr. A1bert D. Wheelon Deputy Director (Science & Technology) Cent ra l Intel l igence Agency W a s h i n g t o n ~ D. C. J 20505 Dear Bud,

The establ ishment of the Sate l l i t e Photography 'WorkingGroup J canposed of quali.fied CIA, DOD and Industry representa t i ves , affords an excel lent opportuni ty to achieve a morebasic understanding of the reasons for the variat ions inqua l i ty and resolut ion we have experienced to date with theCORONA system. The couduct of the i n i t i a l session on13 November was well thought out. I am sure tha t the motiva tion provided to the Group wi l l have a def in i te influenceover th e course o f the study ef for t s .

Your memorandum of 5 November out l ining the organizatiou ..objec t ives , personnel select ions , and working arrangements d idnot reach me in t ime for me to provide you with consideredcomments and recommendations prior to the i n i t i a l meeting.I am general agreement with the overa l l approach you haveo u t l i n e d ~ and in fac t am looking f o r t ~ a r d to the benef i ts t h a tshould accrue to the NRP when the Group completes the study.There a re hO'to1ever a number of points on which I should l iketo comment in more de ta i l .

\ It seems to me important in the case o f s tud ies , such asth is one , by outside groups to b.e sure tha t the task i s wel lenough defined in content and scope t ha t a l l par t ies recognizewhat i s to be accomplished and can be confident of i t saccomplishment in a reasonable length of t ime. I feel thereforeIDEALIST CORONA OXCART GAMBIT VOPY__ __ ~ C O P I ~

~ A G E __ L _ O F _ ~ P A G E S H a n ~ ! o v ~ a BYEMAN S A ' F S S _ ~ . : _ , : f _ ' ( 1 2 . ? _ = f Contmi SYstem

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t ha t the three month's duration s ~ g g e s t e d in your l e t t e r i sappropria te , and tha t th is should be made expl ic i t in theplanning of the Group's act1vi t i e s . We can of course :reviewth is decision as the Group's work continues; as noted againl a t e r , I suggest tha t th i s review certa inly be made aboutmid-January.In par t to ass is t in delineat ing the t.ask, and in par tfo r anams.%' reason to be noted J I feel tha t object ives a , b::;c , and d , as ou'tl:Lnedin your 1Jl8I'I'.lOrandum should be undertaken

spec i f ica l ly in reference to IDEALIST and CORONA. This l imita t ion can be rev1e'l'tJeC1 l a t e r . At the present t ime, however, Ithink it would be unwilae to divert the Group in to analysis ofsystems s t i l l under development unt i l they have succeeded intheir task as applied to our present ly operat ional systems,for which both our data and our experience are more complete.In request ing th i s l imitat ion , I do not mean to r e s t r i c t accessto the resul t s of the GAMBIT and OXCART tes ts to date. In fac t ,I think t ha t these resul t s wil l help to separate externalinfluences, such as that of the atmosphere, from factorsinternal to the CORONA and IDEALIST systems. If fur ther t es t sare desirable with GA'MBITor OXCART for obtaining comparativedata, these should be considered.

I concur with the objectives f , h, and i as described inyour l a t t e r . These object ives occupy an area of study which,it seems to me, 'has been tlle subject of Iltllch casual conversat ion but very l i t t l e def in i t ive object ive analys is . I bel ievethat these three objectivas should receive very seriousconsideration by the Working Group.

The object ives to which I have referred above representimportal1t work which seems well sui ted for such a group as YOllhave se.lected. The working arrangements also seem amenableto a ser ious attempt to reach them. I bel ieve tha t the Groupshould be l imited to these part icular objectives, and everyef for t be made to reach them. In par t icular , I agree with theview t ha t I believe you expressed a t the opening mee.ting, t ha tthe object ives licsted as e and g should not be specif icresponsi .b i l i t ies of th is gro'Up. Although the resul t s of the

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Working Group's ef for t s may well form the basis of specif icproduct ilnprovements, as well as design of Dewer systems J thetask of dete:a:mining the specif ic improvements to on-goingsystems is an NRO responsibi l i ty which should be assigned tothe responsible NBO technical nmnagement uni t , with contractorpart icipation controlle.d by this uni t , and personnel of competingcontractors excluded. Similarly, the determination of the designof new systems i s also a task for appropriate NRO technicalpersonnel. although the resul t s of the Working Group should bemost helpful in th is work.

The arrangements outlined in your le t te r seem well planned.I do however question any early need for vis i t s of the Group topreparation, loading, and launching fac i l i t i es , except perhapsfor general orientation. I f there is an , adverse effec t on theperformance of the syz,ttem exerted by the preparat ion J loadingand launching act iv i t ies , it must be exerted by infl'Utimcingsane element of the opt ical path or by disturbing the motionof vehicle or film. I t seems to me a f i r s t taM of the Groupi s t.o get a quanti tat ive feel of the effects involved, andan understanding of what the sensi t ive elements of the opt icaland mechanical system real ly are.

As to s ta f f ing and organization, I think that the WorkingGroup should be kept as small as possible and confined tothe very bes t qualif ied people. In my view, th is is necessary)not only to be consistent with a basic NB.O philosophy, whichwe continually enforce over strong Objections within theDepart.mentof Defense, bu t even more fundamentally, to insurethe accompliahm.ent of sanething of rea l value. Consistentwith my CODI'nents contained herein, the NRC wil l provide thereques ted personnel support and provide informa t ian necessaryto the work of the Group.

I have se el Henry Howard of the NRO Staffand Lt Colonel of NRO Program A (8PFL) to serveas members of the Working Group_ I consider both to be wellqualif ied for this ef for t and am confident that they wi l lcontribute material ly.

In regard to the funding of the Group ef fo r t , inasmuch asNRO i s tasking DD/S&T to accomplish th is project , I am ag,!'eeabl.e.IDEALISTCORONAOXCART .3GAMBIT

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to the use of the NRO funds for the costs associated withoutside consul tants only. Accordingly, I. have instructedthe Comptroller, NRO, to provide f1Dancing directions toDirector of Program B.. .1 wil l appreciate your instruct ing the Group to direc t

i t s ef for t s to object ives a , b , c , d , f , h , and i as outl inedin your le t te r and requested herein. I am in teres ted in beingkept informed of the progress being made. I suggest tha t by15 January 1964 aD interim status repor t be made to Gene lub in i ,you, and me for determination of progress fo r subsequentorientat ion of the study.Sincerely ,

BROCKWAY McMILLANDirectorNational Reconnaissance Office

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