What Happened

In 1966 and 1967, robotic spacecraft into orbit around the Moon. Constructed for the primary purpose of finding landing sites for Apollo, the Lunar Orbiters also enabled nearly comprehensive mapping stunning detail. The quantity and resolution of the photographs returned by Lunar Orbiter was unprecedented, thanks to a camera system Eastman Kodak company of Rochester, New York. Their imaging system involved elaborate mechanisms to expose photographic , develop the film onboard the spacecraft, and remotely transmit images .

In February of 1967, the Rochester Times-Union published a “pre-invented” the Lunar Orbiter camera. Kodak director of R&D Arthur Simmons -Union that “no one walked develop a camera and film system to take closeup photos …Kodak has, a better word, a ‘library,’ of hundreds of ‘conceptual ideas’ ’t advertise.”1 camera’s “pre-invention” was more interesting than Simmons let on. When Kodak joined Boeing’s Orbiter in 1963, the camera system already existed. The company had originally developed 1950s as a highly classified satellite surveillance program called Weapons System 117L (WS-117L).

The nature of WS-117L and the clandestine origins Orbiter camera system were vaguely , details were only revealed to the public through declassification decades later. This article won’t linger on the detailed technical specifications Orbiter cameras, but will instead focus on tracing the system’s development from conception to its adoption by NASA. attempts by the United States to remotely transmit images from space, systems were adapted for lunar exploration.

WS-117L studies of satellite surveillance concepts 1946, attempt practice. The United States was hoping that satellites monitor the buildup of nuclear weapons and launch Soviet Union. In 1953, RAND Report 262 feasibility and utility of such systems, and by 1955 soliciting contractors for WS-117L. Eastman Kodak created camera systems for Lockheed’s bid, awarded their contract in October of 1956.2

Why It Matters

Originally, RAND had primarily considered using television systems.3 “” imaging was considered satellite surveillance, so television was a logical choice. But in a declassified history of the program, Robert Perry explains imaging quickly became contested within –it was unclear whether the technology satisfy requirements, and the alternative film recovery systems showed clear feasibility and reliability early on. efforts -117L into the Discoverer-CORONA program, camera systems into orbit, and returned capsules of exposed film for aerial retrieval and processing .4 Early on, however, a system a . -117L, Kodak created a remote transmission system became program.

Television systems consideration early on, technological limitations , especially resolution. Kodak’s newly formed Apparatus and Optical Division settled on a system to develop film onboard the spacecraft and “readout” the images to receiving stations on Earth. Planners envisaged five cameras for SAMOS, dedicated to testing Kodak’s readout system (the others testing advanced recovery stems). The E-1 camera would primarily be a technology demonstrator, while the E-2 and E-3 ability for their system to take images at more functional resolutions. architecture.

In a way, this camera system “pre-invented,” mostly a clever assembly of existing technologies, many created by Kodak. The company had decades of experience in aerial photography I. , they had created advanced aerial films, compact film storage systems, and image motion compensation techniques. worked sights and proximity sensing , which would become useful for developing thermal control materials for the spacecraft.5

Illustrations from 1957 show a rough sketch readout. Kodak’s 70mm exposed, processed, and stored before readout and transmission. Electronic signals received on the ground reconstruct the images.

What Comes Next

By 1958, planning documents started detailing technologies that ultimately made the readout system possible. became “Bimat” film, labeled in the illustration below as “WEB.”6 coated with gelatin containing the necessary processing chemicals, enabling “dry” processing. pressed against the exposed film, developing and fixing the images before storage and transmission.7

The origins somewhat obscure in the public record. One Kodak-produced history suggests that the technology started as a laboratory investigation with amateur photography in mind, applied aerial photography.8 Considering the timeline, it was either a happy accident that this experiment matured -117L, or Kodak engineers started looking into the technique specifically in response to the challenges of film photography in space.

A Lockheed development 1956 describes the processing system , stating “not differ significantly” from existing methodologies for “airborne rapid-processing,” and describing a notional “a roller-applicator type” system. “the handling of photographic chemicals” “major difficulties to be overcome.”9 The illustration from 1957 shows the onboard processing step without the “WEB,” a detail diagrams labeled 1958.10 Then, a patent for a “web processing method” August 1959 by Kodak researchers, presenting “a one-step method for substantially completely developing and fixing a photographic image…without immersion in photographic processing baths.”11 David McDowell, an engineer who joined 1956 and worked Orbiter, also remembers Bimat being developed specifically for the project. “Bimat was started started work on E-1 and E-2,” , “because process .”12

The second key technology was the readout system itself, which involved collaboration with the Columbia Broadcasting System Laboratories to create a flying-spot scanner.13 It worked using what McDowell calls an “inside-out CRT,” using a cathode- electron beam through the exposed film. Variations in the density changed the intensity , and those variations were recorded by a photomultiplier and translated into electronic signals . ground received those signals, used equipment to translate , and recorded . Before passing through the film, the beam reflected off a revolving drum ( diagram below) for thermal management.

In October 1960, the first E-1 camera launched -Agena, but failed to inject into orbit. Meanwhile, officials were actively debating the wisdom of continuing the readout program. Costs were rising, engineering difficulties plagued the program, technology was beginning to seem obsolete, and CORONA-like systems were looking like a better option until more advanced readout techniques could be developed. Despite these issues, there were advocates for readout, and tests continued decision tangible results.

In January 1961, the second SAMOS test launched with another E-1 camera and sailed into orbit. In Sunnyvale, California, technicians at a readout station received transmissions from the spacecraft, and the result was a photograph with a 100 foot resolution. The system had worked.14

The E-2 camera , with more advanced aiming systems and a higher resolution. rotating systems within the spacecraft created complexities achieving these objectives. One key difference between E-1 and E-2, McDowell recalls, was that E-2 used a rotating nosecone to help stabilize camera.15

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