Object Details
Manufacturer
ITEK Corporation
Summary
This is a Petzval lens used from 1962-1972 in the KH-4 through KH-4B cameras that took photographs of the Earth's surface in the US photoreconnaissance satellite program, codenamed Corona. From an altitude of around 120 miles, the cameras photographed targets in the USSR and other nations. The film was reeled onto spools in a film return bucket that separated from the satellite, reentered the Earth's atmosphere, and then deployed a parachute that permitted an Air Force plane to retrieve it. By the end of the program in May 1972 the resolution of the cameras had improved dramatically to about two meters (six feet). The crack in the lens was made during the manufacturing process. Itek made this unflown lens and Hughes Danbury Optical Systems donated it to NASM in 1996.
Credit Line
Gift of Hughes Danbury Optical Systems
Inventory Number
A19960624000
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Instruments & Payloads
Materials
Lens--optical glass
Lens case--magnesium alloy
Tail cone--titanium
For additional documentation, see the Corona Program Event; link found under the "Related" tab.
Dimensions
3-D (see note): 86 × 18.8 × 20.5cm, 10.7kg (2 ft. 9 7/8 in. × 7 3/8 in. × 8 1/16 in., 23.5lb.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Location
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Hangar
James S. McDonnell Space Hangar
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19960624000