2013-01-22
post/41228225043
![STS-38 mission patch, from Wikipedia.
Trevor Paglen, in Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes:
The mission was to insert a classified SDS communications spacecraft, code named QUASAR, into orbit. On the ‘public’ program patch, the white shuttle is on top, shadowed by a gray inverse image. According [to] NASA’s description of the patch, ‘the top orbiter…symbolizes the continuing dynamic nature of the Space Shuttle Program. The bottom orbiter, a black and white mirror image, acknowledges the thousands of unheralded individuals who work behind the scenes…this mirror image symbolizes the importance of their contributions’.STS-38 actually deployed two spacecraft. One was the QUASAR SDS spacecraft, which was a highly classified payload. The QUASAR deployment, however, also served as a cover story for an even more secret spacecraft, called PROWLER. PROWLER was a small, stealthy spacecraft designed to maneuver through the geostationary belt and to intercept and inspect other satellites. According to journalist Robert Windrem, PROWLER could accurately maneuver within a foot of target spacecraft, collecting information about size, radar cross section, mass, and operational details. In tests, PROWLER is reported to have shut down U.S. communication spacecraft undetected, proving the viability of stealthy anti-satellite (ASAT) operations. As Dwayne Day first reported, just as STS-38 carried two payloads, there were in fact two patches for the mission itself. The ‘secret’ patch was an inversion of the public patch. On the secret patch, the shadow shuttle was on top, signifying the shuttle’s true mission.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/f0e0c2fdc1a2297f5bfa74b5bec84785/tumblr_mh1uvei7R81qz4vjro1_500.png)
STS-38 mission patch, from Wikipedia.
Trevor Paglen, in Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes:
The mission was to insert a classified SDS communications spacecraft, code named QUASAR, into orbit. On the ‘public’ program patch, the white shuttle is on top, shadowed by a gray inverse image. According [to] NASA’s description of the patch, ‘the top orbiter…symbolizes the continuing dynamic nature of the Space Shuttle Program. The bottom orbiter, a black and white mirror image, acknowledges the thousands of unheralded individuals who work behind the scenes…this mirror image symbolizes the importance of their contributions’.
STS-38 actually deployed two spacecraft. One was the QUASAR SDS spacecraft, which was a highly classified payload. The QUASAR deployment, however, also served as a cover story for an even more secret spacecraft, called PROWLER. PROWLER was a small, stealthy spacecraft designed to maneuver through the geostationary belt and to intercept and inspect other satellites. According to journalist Robert Windrem, PROWLER could accurately maneuver within a foot of target spacecraft, collecting information about size, radar cross section, mass, and operational details. In tests, PROWLER is reported to have shut down U.S. communication spacecraft undetected, proving the viability of stealthy anti-satellite (ASAT) operations.
As Dwayne Day first reported, just as STS-38 carried two payloads, there were in fact two patches for the mission itself. The ‘secret’ patch was an inversion of the public patch. On the secret patch, the shadow shuttle was on top, signifying the shuttle’s true mission.
post/41227283977
I’d agree. The Air Force were definitely involved in the Shuttle’s design, as detailed in Maciej Ceglowski’s excellent post from around the time of the post-Columbia return to flight, and their demands significantly changed the project (despite the fact that, in the end, the lunar orbit that the Shuttle was pushed to be ready for was never flown).
There’s also the fact that American intelligence (specifically the National Reconnaissance Office) has long been flying spy satellite missions that required complicated airborne recovery of the photographic payloads. (By contrast, the Soviets used a modified Vostok spacecraft with a parachute landing to ground right through their observing history. Generally, their programme did have a knack of being a weird mix of lower-tech (ground landing) but also higher (pressurised camera housing allowing re-use).)
While the advent of improved electronics allowed the subsequent KH-11 to avoid film return issues, I’m sure it was useful for these to be both launched by and serviceable by the Shuttle; indeed, a 1990 Atlantis launch (STS-36) is believed to have placed an upgraded spy satellite into orbit.
None of this is conclusive, but it’d be hard to believe that the NRO (and probably Air Force) weren’t supporting the Shuttle programme behind the scenes, at least until they got their replacements ready. (Note the first flight date.)
2012-11-15
post/35794466008
Atlantis shrink-wrapped with 1,500 square metres of plastic (photo by RedHuber).
2012-10-15
post/33641454670
The Sunday Times Magazine cover, 3rd July 2011, a winner of the D&AD Cover Award (as seen at coverjunkie.com, via Tom Coates). The photo-montage is a reference to half of Fiona Banner’s wonderful Harrier and Jaguar, displayed as part of Tate Britain’s Duveen Commission in 2010.
I know there’s a whole series of photos of the Space Shuttle moving its way through Los Angeles that I could post here, but there’s something depressing about a spacecraft - flawed, yes, but still powerful and occasionally even graceful - dragged down to the level of crawling through suburban streets, like just another child being driven to the museum by its parents.
I’d rather wait until Endeavour is unveiled in place, since unlike Atlantis, Discovery, and Enterprise, it’ll be mounted as a full launch stack, vertical and poised: the opposite of the image above.
2012-04-28
post/21956105879
Another couple of pieces of graphic design from Between Channels, “from mid-1970s Practical Wireless”.
2012-04-07
post/20649879042
Last Days (in progress) by Philip Scott Andrews.
Andrews, from Daylight magazine, quoted at The Fox Is Black:
In the simplest terms, these photographs tell a story about men and women who show up to work every day and launch spaceships. It is a marvel, a symbol of the United States’ twentieth century dominance. But it is a tragic story. The U.S. is abandoning not only its manned spaceflight program but the individuals behind it whose ingenuity, bravery, and attention to detail made the program not only possible, but reliable… In looking back, we can look ahead to find the next adventure over the horizon.
