Astrospies

A heretofore secret chapter of the space race is fascinatingly revealed in this first-rate NOVA episode. Unknown to the vast majority of Americans—who were thrilled by the Mercury and Apollo space missions—a "shadow space race" took place in the 1960s, as dedicated teams of scientists, military pilots, and aeronautics engineers in the U.S. and the Soviet Union competed to develop covert space programs for launching military astronauts on spy missions. After the U.S. U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile in May 1960, the unmanned Corona spy satellite was developed as a safer method of gathering photographic intelligence from orbit, but as Cold War tensions intensified, the Pentagon quickly moved to develop a secret Air Force-backed agency to design, build, and launch an MOL (manned orbiting laboratory). Familiar to the public—thanks to President Lyndon Johnson's enthusiastic support—the MOL's actual purpose as a spy station remained classified. Unlike their celebrated counterparts in the Mercury and Apollo programs, U.S. "astrospies" trained in total obscurity. Meanwhile, the Soviets successfully built three manned Almaz space stations equipped with high-powered spy cameras and an externally mounted cannon designed to destroy hostile satellites or attack U.S. astrospies (one Almaz was ultimately launched, making it the only spacecraft ever sent up that was equipped for orbital warfare). Through declassified documents, vintage Air Force films, oral histories from surviving U.S. astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts, and access to an actual Almaz spacecraft stored in a restricted Russian space facility, NOVA reveals the space age that might have been—a potentially grim scenario of espionage and armed confrontation—if unmanned spy satellites hadn't proven to be the more sensible choice. Recommended. DVD extras include printable materials for educators. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)