Dwayne Day
@kennen11.bsky.social
Historian of military and civil space programs and policy. In my day job I direct studies for NASA on space and aeronautics subjects including planetary science, astrophysics, and Earth science. Work at the National Academy of Science. Trekkie. Dogs.
Part 2 of my article is up:
thespacereview.com/article/5107/1
thespacereview.com/article/5107/1
November 25, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Part 2 of my article is up:
thespacereview.com/article/5107/1
thespacereview.com/article/5107/1
Okay, here you go--horizon camera on CORONA:
November 25, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Okay, here you go--horizon camera on CORONA:
Part 2 of my series on early space mapping programs will appear in The Space Review later today. Part 1 was about the dedicated ARGON satellite. As ARGON started flying, the NRO began putting "index" cameras on CORONA reconnaissance satellites. You can see that here. Not a mapping camera, but useful
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Part 2 of my series on early space mapping programs will appear in The Space Review later today. Part 1 was about the dedicated ARGON satellite. As ARGON started flying, the NRO began putting "index" cameras on CORONA reconnaissance satellites. You can see that here. Not a mapping camera, but useful
My Monday Space Review article will be part 2 of my series on mapping from orbit. This is a declassified ARGON image from 1964 of the Gulf of Oman. ARGON was a capable system, but required its own launch. Eventually, mapping cameras were added to existing reconnaissance satellites.
November 23, 2025 at 2:58 PM
My Monday Space Review article will be part 2 of my series on mapping from orbit. This is a declassified ARGON image from 1964 of the Gulf of Oman. ARGON was a capable system, but required its own launch. Eventually, mapping cameras were added to existing reconnaissance satellites.
My part 2 article on satellite mapping will include this image of Istanbul, Turkey, taken in 1962 by an ARGON satellite. These images were used to create and update maps of areas around the world and to revise the geodetic surveys. Thanks to Harry Stranger for locating some nice ARGON images.
November 21, 2025 at 4:20 AM
My part 2 article on satellite mapping will include this image of Istanbul, Turkey, taken in 1962 by an ARGON satellite. These images were used to create and update maps of areas around the world and to revise the geodetic surveys. Thanks to Harry Stranger for locating some nice ARGON images.
Just submitted part 2 of my article on the development of satellite mapping in the 1960s. Until it appears on Monday, you can enjoy part 1, which features a story about horse poop.
thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
November 21, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Just submitted part 2 of my article on the development of satellite mapping in the 1960s. Until it appears on Monday, you can enjoy part 1, which features a story about horse poop.
thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
My new article is up, and it includes a great story about a horse: thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
November 18, 2025 at 1:54 AM
My new article is up, and it includes a great story about a horse: thespacereview.com/article/5104/1
My next article in The Space Review will be about early mapping satellite programs. Part 1 is on the classified ARGON program (see the camera). It took this photo of Long Island in 1964 (thanks to Harry Stranger). Pt. 2 will be about overlapping programs, pt. 3 will be about replacing ARGON.
November 16, 2025 at 9:08 PM
My next article in The Space Review will be about early mapping satellite programs. Part 1 is on the classified ARGON program (see the camera). It took this photo of Long Island in 1964 (thanks to Harry Stranger). Pt. 2 will be about overlapping programs, pt. 3 will be about replacing ARGON.
John Kraus took this shot of this night's launch.
November 15, 2025 at 4:10 AM
John Kraus took this shot of this night's launch.
You want to see stuff like this:
November 15, 2025 at 3:13 AM
You want to see stuff like this:
New article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5100/1
November 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
New article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5100/1
My next article in The Space Review will be about this. Appearing this evening.
November 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
My next article in The Space Review will be about this. Appearing this evening.
My new article is up:
thespacereview.com/article/5093/1
thespacereview.com/article/5093/1
November 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
My new article is up:
thespacereview.com/article/5093/1
thespacereview.com/article/5093/1
My next article will appear in The Space Review Monday evening. It deals with efforts to provide a near-real-time reconnaissance capability to the HEXAGON satellite. There was a 1970 proposal to add a system to the existing reconnaissance cameras. (more)
November 3, 2025 at 1:40 PM
My next article will appear in The Space Review Monday evening. It deals with efforts to provide a near-real-time reconnaissance capability to the HEXAGON satellite. There was a 1970 proposal to add a system to the existing reconnaissance cameras. (more)
Did you see this one?
November 1, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Did you see this one?
My next article will appear in The Space Review on Monday evening. It has these things in common:
November 1, 2025 at 1:37 PM
My next article will appear in The Space Review on Monday evening. It has these things in common:
My other article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5087/1
October 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
My other article is up: thespacereview.com/article/5087/1
My new article (1 of 2) is up:
www.thespacereview.com/article/5089/1
www.thespacereview.com/article/5089/1
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 AM
My new article (1 of 2) is up:
www.thespacereview.com/article/5089/1
www.thespacereview.com/article/5089/1
I will have two articles in next week's Space Review. One of them will be about a top secret 1963 camera experiment to photograph a suspected anti-ballistic missile site near Leningrad.
October 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I will have two articles in next week's Space Review. One of them will be about a top secret 1963 camera experiment to photograph a suspected anti-ballistic missile site near Leningrad.
This is from the Loleta, California Wikipedia page. It does not look like an exciting place to visit.
October 22, 2025 at 10:04 PM
This is from the Loleta, California Wikipedia page. It does not look like an exciting place to visit.
I have two articles in The Space Review this week. Here is one of them. thespacereview.com/article/5085/1
October 21, 2025 at 8:35 PM
I have two articles in The Space Review this week. Here is one of them. thespacereview.com/article/5085/1