The KH-6 camera was programmed to tilt between fore and aft to cover the same land area twice during a photographic pass and thus provide stereo coverage. Early systems (KH-1, KH-2, KH-3 and KH-6) carried a single panoramic camera, or a single frame camera (KH-5), while later systems (KH-4, KH-4A, and KH-4B) carried two panoramic cameras looking 30 degree apart (one looking forward, the other looking rear). However, some details about the various camera systems have been made available. Little information is available about the various satellite designs. These images are now publically available. The order provides for the declassification of more than 860,000 images of the Earth's surface, collected between 19. In 1995, President Clinton signed an Executive Order directing the declassification of intelligence imagery acquired by the Corona, Argon, and Lanyard missions. This designation system came into use during 1962 with the 4th camera system, with its predecessors retroactively identified as KH-1, KH-2, and KH-3. The number following the KH- designation indicates what type camera system was used on the satellite. The KH- (KeyHole) designation is used to refer to all photographic reconnaisance satellites. Following Discoverer 38, the Discoverer program was terminated, and a veil of secrecy was placed on all photographic surveillance missions and related test missions. However, the Discoverer program did not solely consist of surveillance missions, and included non-imaging test flights to verify technologies and fix recurring technical problems in the Corona series, as well as 2 flights to test sensors for the MIDAS early warning satellite system.

This Discoverer program, then described as a satellite technology development effort, was in reality mainly a cover for the Corona photographic missions. The first launches of the Corona program were announced by the USAF as satellites in the Discoverer series. All film was black-and-white, with the exception of some small samples of infrared and color film carried on some missions as experiments. These capsules were designed to be recovered by a specially equipped aircraft during parachute descent, but were also designed to float to permit recovery from the ocean. The satellites used film canisters that were returned to earth in capsules (a.k.a. The programs' worldwide photographic coverage was also used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other U.S. The satellites were designed to assess how rapidly the Soviet Union was producing long-range bombers and ballistic missiles, and where they were being deployed. photographic surveillance satellites used from the late 50's through the early 70's. The Corona, Argon, and Lanyard satellites were U.S. Including Discoverer, Corona (KH-1, KH-2, KH-3, KH-4, KH-4A, KH-4B), Argon (KH-5), Lanyard (KH-6)

Image bucket of corona