Airplane catching spy satellite footage falling from orbit

Photographs captured by these so-called “Corona” satellites were shot on special 70 millimeter Kodak film using two panoramic cameras that evolved over the course of the program. The satellites carried anywhere between 8,000 and 16,000 feet of film per camera (depending on the year and thickness of the film) and once one of these rolls was spent, it would be jettisoned in a GE reentry capsule nicknamed “film bucket.” This is where it gets interesting as the film was dropped in a special ‘film bucket’ capsule from space, which the US Air Force then had to catch in mid-air.

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