CPO3)SPACE SHUTTLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505070002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 23, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505070002-4
CBS EVENING NEWS
23 January 1985
CPO3>SPACE SHUTTLE>RATHER: Because of the icy cold in Florida, today's
first-ever, purely military mission of the space shuttle
was ordered rescheduled for tomorrow instead. But while
the worst of the freeze appears to be over, the
controversy over the launch of the first shuttle mission
subjected to secrecy and censorship is not. Pentagon
correspondent David Martin reports.
MARTIN: There the space shuttle Discovery stands, forced
by unexpected icing to delay its launch 24 hours.
Discovery is doing exactly what the Pentagon has warned
would happen if military missions were left to a civilian
agency like NASA: falling behind schedule and doing it in
full view of news cameras. As far as the Pentagon is
concerned, far too much is already known. When Discovery
finally reaches orbit, it will perform a maneuver much
like this earlier mission when the shuttle carried a
communication satellite into space. Only this time, it
will be a new generation spy satellite designed to
eavesdrop on the Soviet Union. Once on station, the
satellite will unfurl its antennas, one for sucking up
communications from the Soviet Union, another for sending
the intercepted signals down to a ground station in
Australia. From there, the signals will be retransmitted
by a second satellite to the National Security Agency
outside Washington. State of the art computers in the
basement of the agency's headquarters will sort through
the massive data, searching for Russian secrets.
JOHN PIKE (Federation of American Scientists): A
telemetry from Soviet missile tests, emissions from
military units, so that we can locate where they are and
what they're doing.
MARTIN: Why, you might ask, is so much known about a
mission that's supposed to be so secret? The answer is
that someone who knows what he's looking for can piece
together a lot just from publicly available information.
One piece of the puzzle: the U.S. is expanding this-top
secret satellite ground station in Australia, evidence
that a new kind of satellite is about to be launched. For
all the controversy over the secrecy of this launch, the
Russians do not seem very curious. A Soviet surveillance
trawler, which loiters offshore for most shuttle launches,
is nowhere to be seen. David Martin, CBS News, at the
Kennedy Space Center. <
Approved For Release 2010/08/10: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505070002-4