got geoint?

We will admit that, yes, we are big GEOINT history buffs. For example, one of our favorite sites is the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s “From the Office of the Historian” page. By looking into the past, we get a much clearer picture in terms of how far we have come with geospatial intelligence developments. From today’s commercial satellites distributing imagery to pretty much anyone’s smart phone to advances in LiDAR, we have come a long, long way. Though many of you may remember a time when exposed film (of Earth images) were actually dropped out of a spy satellite via parachute — to be captured by a plane. Yes, much like the fax machine is a relic of the past, so too is this method for retrieving key GEOINT intelligence.

According to SmartPlanet, a film capsule would be ejected from a spy satellite, deploy a parachute after reentry, and be recovered in mid-air by a passing plane. This would eliminate the possibility of the capsules’ contents falling into enemy hands.

Check out this diagram of the actual process:

In addition, the post points out that the NGA is in the process of trying to digitize large volumes of data — much from the old-school film drops that was the norm through the 1960s through the 1980s. This move will allow us to get a glimpse into the past in a most unique way. Yes, us GEOINT history buffs are pretty excited about this one.

Tags: film drops, Film drops of spy satellite data, GEOINT, GIS, LIDAR, mapping spy satellites, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, NGA, United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, USGIF