KH-9 Hexagon
KH-9 (BYEMAN codename HEXAGON), commonly known as Big Bird or KeyHole-9, was a series of photographic reconnaissance satellites launched by the United States between 1971 and 1986. Of twenty launch attempts by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), all but one were successful. Photographic film aboard the KH-9 was stored on RCA Astro Electronic Division take up reel system then sent back to Earth in recoverable film return capsules for processing and interpretation. The highest ground resolution achieved by the main cameras of the satellite was 2 ft (0.61 m), though another source says "images in the "better-than-one-foot" category" for the last "Gambit" missions.
| Mission type | |||
| Operator | |||
| COSPAR ID |
SPACECRAFT PROPERTIES
| Manufacturer |
|
||
| Launch mass | 11400 kg to 13300 kg (with mapping camera)
|
||
| Dimensions | 16.2 m × 3.05 m (53.1 ft × 10.0 ft)
|
EXPEDITION
CREW
START OF MISSION
| Rocket | |||
| Launch site | |||
| Contractor |
END OF MISSION
ORBITAL PARAMETERS
| Reference system | |||
| Regime | |||
| Inclination | 97°
|
PAYLOAD
MAIN TELESCOPE
| Type | folded Wright camera
|
||
| Diameter | 0.91 m (3 ft 0 in)
|
||
| Focal length | 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
|
||
| Focal ratio | f/3.0
|
||
| Wavelengths |
TRANSPONDERS
Contributors
No records found.More...
This page is the FamousFix profile for KH-9 Hexagon. Content on this page is contributed by editors who belong to our editorial community. We welcome your contributions... so please create an account if you would like to collaborate with other editor's in helping to shape this website.
On the KH-9 Hexagon page you will be able to add and update factual information, post media and connect this topic to other topics on the website. This website does skew towards famous actors, musicians, models and sports stars, however we would like to expand that to include many other interesting topics.