I Love This Stuff

Ten minutes that make ya pause, think, and marvel...

I remember the historical events in the first part of this video, at least the stuff that begins about the time Sputnik was launched.  I also remember somewhat more vividly the mystique and aura surrounding our satellite reconnaissance capabilities during the '70s and the '80s, mainly because I worked on the technical side... on the periphery... of the spy business during that time.  The surveillance satellites discussed in the video played a VERY large part in putting me out of a job, actually, given the fact the ground-based monitoring systems I worked on did the same sort of work at a much higher cost and produced significantly inferior results.

The thing that REALLY blows me away, however, is the fact these satellites and their supporting infrastructure were designed and deployed in the 1950s and 1960s, without the benefits of either internet or massive computing capabilities.  Ain't that SUMTHIN'?

h/t:  This article in The Atlantic.