Discoverer 35 (Reconnaissance Satellite) - 11/15/1961 cover by Kimak

Item Specifics

Condition

Cover (Postal History)

Stamp Format

Single

Item Description

Condition: F/VF- printed address with a sealed rear flap

Grade: VF (Very Fine)
Discoverer Series “Discoverer” was a code name for a secret unmanned orbiting spy platform called “Corona”. Discoverer was the code for only 39 of the Corona’s 145 launches. Although better than the U2 spy plane’s information, neither country’s programs worked as well as newer unmanned satellites that developed better ways to look in on the other side’s installations. The entire program lasted from between 1952 and 1979. However, Corona lasted from 21 January 1959 through 18 April 1962. These other launches were simply called “Secret Satellites” or “USAF Classified firing” The public learned of this program’s actual usage in 1995. The last Corona mission on 25 May 1972 went by the name of Quick Look – Search & Find Recon Satellite for SALT Checkup. The Discoverer satellites orbited the earth, taking photos of the Soviet Union and China. Film canisters were then released over the Pacific Ocean from the satellites, where C-119 USAF Cargo planes stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii would deploy a trapeze device to catch the parachutes, and then winch them into the aircraft. However, it was not as easy as it sounded and many of the canisters were lost. Most of those that were recovered contained unremarkable images of clouds. The first 12 Discoverer missions failed. Discoverer 13 was successfully recovered but did not have a camera. Discoverer 14’s returning bucket was retrieved in mid-air by a specially equipped C-119 cargo plane (#037) from Hickam AFB, Hawaii on Aug. 18, 1960 and provided the earliest photos of the Soviet Union's Plesetsk rocket base. With these photos Corona yielded more valuable images of the Soviet Union than did the entire U-2 spy plane program. It proved conclusively that the Soviets' ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) arsenal did not number in the hundreds, as was widely feared, but rather amounted to somewhere between 25 and 50. This knowledge, however, was hidden from the American public for years. Corona showed that the supposed missile gap was not as great as had originally been feared by our country. Corona allowed the United States to catalog Soviet air defense and antiballistic missile sites, nuclear weapons-related facilities and submarine bases along with military installations in China and Eastern Europe. It also provided pictures of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and Soviet arms control compliance. Its retrieval system of ships at sea helped NASA develop a safe means of recovering manned spacecraft and its imaging systems provided the basis for the cameras carried by the Lunar Orbiters of 1966-67.Discoverer 35, also known as Corona 9028, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite which was launched in 1961. It was the last of ten Corona KH-2 satellites, based on the Agena-B.The launch of Discoverer 35 occurred at 21:23 UTC on 15 November 1961. A Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket was used, flying from Launch Complex 75-3-4 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Upon successfully reaching orbit, it was assigned the Harvard designation 1961 Alpha Zeta 1. Discoverer 35 was operated in a low Earth orbit with a perigee of 233 kilometres (145 mi), an apogee of 247 kilometres (153 mi), 81.6 degrees of inclination, and a inclination, of 89.3 minutes. The satellite had a mass of 2,100 kilograms (4,600 lb), and was equipped with a panoramic camera with a focal length of 61 centimetres (24 in), which had a maximum resolution of 7.6 metres (25 ft). Images were recorded onto 70-millimeter (2.8 in) film, and returned in a Satellite Recovery Vehicle just over a day after launch. The Satellite Recovery Vehicle used by Discoverer 35 was SRV-523. The SRV was successfully recovered. Apart from the presence of some emulsion on the images it returned, Discoverer 35 completed its mission successfully. It subsequently remained in orbit until it decayed on 3 December 1961.This cover commemorates a DISCVOVERER 35 launched on 11/15/1961 from Vandenberg AFB, CA is on a black thermograph, cacheted, addressed cover to Emil Kimak, himself and is quite scarce! Kimak is one of the Early cover makers and probably didn't produce many covers and may be unique.Get it today as it will not last long - JSV

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