by Bruce J.
The first successful recovery of the film capsule of a Corona (spy satellite)
capsule was made on August 15, 1960, south of Oahu, Hawaii. The parachute and
capsule were flown to Lockheed Missiles and Space Company, Sunnyvale,
California. Fellow engineer Matts Lindgren and I were tasked to "damage chart"
the parachute. We had no parachute table, so we were sequestered (to protect against
souvenir seekers) in the executive conference room in Building 104. Utilizing
the long conference table, we completed the analysis, and the parachute and
capsule were immediately flown to the White House for President Eisenhower's
inspection. This parachute and capsule are now in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
