MOL

So let see what image resolution and task had the Keyhole Satelliten

KH-1 to 4 CORONA - 0.91 m ( 3 ft ) - surveillance - 1959 to 1972.
KH-5 ARGON - 140 m (460 ft) - Military Mapping - 1961 to 1964.
KH-6 LANYARD - 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) - high definition surveillance - 1963.
KH-7 GAMBIT 1/2 - 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) - high definition surveillance - 1963 to 1967.
KH-8 GAMBIT 3 - 0.28 to 0.56 m (0.92 to 1.84 ft) - high definition surveillance - 1966 to 1984.
KH-9 HEXAGON - 9.1 m to 6.1 m (30 ft to 20 ft) - Military Mapping - 1971 to 1986.
KH-10 DORIAN - under 0,10 m (4 in) - high definition surveillance by Astronauts - never launch
KH-11 KENNEN - 6 cm (2.4 in) - high definition surveillance - 1976 to today ?
KH-12 MISTY - 6 cm (2.4 in) - high definition surveillance - 1990-2012? - stealthy KH-11 KENNEN ?
KH-13 EIS - 5 cm (2 in)? - high definition surveillance - 1999-???? - stealthy successor of MISTY ? - Improved KH-11 ?

note: better list with NRO data below

Thoughts:
KH-6 had only 3 launches with none to poor results and was cancelled (parallel program to KH-7?)
KH-7 in contrast to KH-6, had better image resolution of 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) improve to 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) with GAMBIT 2
Since KH-9 was Mapping only, was KH-10 planned successor for KH-8 ?
Here issue that MOL had only Five manned mission, what could imply that Unmanned KH-10 were planned ?
or even later KH-10 is resupply by gemini ferry or by Shuttle ?
or put KH-10 optic into shuttle payload bay for one orbit mission ?

Some of NRO documents for MOL imply those options
 
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KH-8 did much better than that: 2.3 inch ( = 6 cm), close from the Fried limit. They achieved this by going as low as possible: 70 miles / 113 km. At this height, the atmosphere shook the satellite and blurred the pictures (they must have found a solution as 2.3 inch, blurred, would make no sense at all).
 
Michel Van said:
So let see what image resolution and task had the Keyhole Satelliten

KH-9 HEXAGON - 9.1 m to 6.1 m (30 ft to 20 ft) - Military Mapping - 1971 to 1986.

Since KH-9 was Mapping only, was KH-10 planned successor for KH-8 ?
Click to expand...

Your resolution for HEXAGON is too low, publicly released information puts the resolution at 2-7ft (from nadir to 60 degrees off). Remember HEXAGON was wide area search system, intended to replace CORONA.
 
according this NRO document

KH-1 to 4 CORONA - 29 ft - surveillance - 1959 to 1972.
KH-5 ARGON - 460 ft? - Military Mapping - 1961 to 1964.
KH-6 LANYARD - 5 ft 11 in? - high definition surveillance - 1963. (part of SAMOS)
KH-7 GAMBIT 1/2 - 5 ft 11 in - high definition surveillance - 1963 to 1967.
KH-8 GAMBIT 3 - 5 ft 11 in - high definition surveillance - 1966 to 1984.
KH-9 HEXAGON - 13 ft 6 in- Mapping for CIA - 1971 to 1986.
KH-10 DORIAN - 2.5 in - high definition surveillance by Astronauts - never launch
KH-11 KENNEN - 2.5 in? - high definition surveillance - 1976 to today ?
KH-12 MISTY - 2.5 in? - high definition surveillance - 1990-2012? - stealthy KH-11 KENNEN ?
KH-13 EIS - 2 in? - high definition surveillance - 1999-???? - stealthy successor of MISTY ? - Improved KH-11 ?

notes:
From KH-11 on the Resolution is still classified
Robert Perry mention that HEXAGON is CIA program and allot Dokumentation was not available to him

More here
 
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Your numbers are still bad.
CORONA started out with really low resolution, but best resolution for the KH-4B was a little better than 6 feet.
KH-7 GAMBIT-1 was at best around 2-3 feet.
KH-8 GAMBIT-3 was at best 4 inches (although somebody who worked on it told me that the best resolution was 2.4 inches). I think that the original goal for the program was around 12 inches.
There are the official HEXAGON numbers and the real ones. According to a guy who worked on the camera system, the best ever HEXAGON resolution was 6 inches, but you won't find that in any unclassified source.
 
blackstar said:
CORONA started out with really low resolution, but best resolution for the KH-4B was a little better than 6 feet.
KH-7 GAMBIT-1 was at best around 2-3 feet.
KH-8 GAMBIT-3 was at best 4 inches (although somebody who worked on it told me that the best resolution was 2.4 inches). I think that the original goal for the program was around 12 inches.
There are the official HEXAGON numbers and the real ones. According to a guy who worked on the camera system, the best ever HEXAGON resolution was 6 inches, but you won't find that in any unclassified source.
Click to expand...
You got source on that ?
 
Michel Van said:
You got source on that ?
Click to expand...
F1fU7FUaAAEsE23.jpg

Even these numbers are a bit off. The KH-4B J-3 camera did a little better than six foot resolution for its best missions. The KH-6 was really about 2 feet. But there was only one successful mission, and there was a problem with the camera after a few passes, resulting in degraded imagery, so it was probably "at best" 2 feet, and the number on this chart is the average. The KH-7 was probably at best 2 feet, but it started out lower on the early missions.
 
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My apologies for appearing to pry into a forumite's offline identity.

I don't care about your offline identity.

If you are going to say that someone has wrong information, I expect a source given. Especially if it's a potentially classified piece of information. Pointing at an open document keeps you out of legal trouble!

I have tried to keep to this standard myself, though I probably haven't done a very good job at it.
 

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