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http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1734/1
Black Apollo
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, November 29, 2010
During the height of the race to the Moon, NASA and the top secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) planned a series of Apollo missions to carry a large reconnaissance satellite to lunar orbit where astronauts would photograph the lunar surface and map out landing sites for later manned landings. But these were not mere plans—NASA actually started construction of four spacecraft, each 1.5 meters (5 feet) (1.5 meters) in diameter and 5.5 meters (18 feet) long. They were based upon the then operational KH-7 GAMBIT high-resolution reconnaissance satellite. But in the end the spacecraft proved unnecessary and the project was canceled in spring 1967.
Black Apollo
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, November 29, 2010
During the height of the race to the Moon, NASA and the top secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) planned a series of Apollo missions to carry a large reconnaissance satellite to lunar orbit where astronauts would photograph the lunar surface and map out landing sites for later manned landings. But these were not mere plans—NASA actually started construction of four spacecraft, each 1.5 meters (5 feet) (1.5 meters) in diameter and 5.5 meters (18 feet) long. They were based upon the then operational KH-7 GAMBIT high-resolution reconnaissance satellite. But in the end the spacecraft proved unnecessary and the project was canceled in spring 1967.
