UPWARD was the code name, within the National Reconnaissance Office's Byeman Control System, for assistance given to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the Apollo program.[1][2][3] The camera designed to survey the lunar surface was a modification of the GAMBIT design and utilized a 1.5-inch (38 mm) focal length camera for a terrain mapping apparatus. This camera system was present on both the CORONA and GAMBIT survey systems.[4]

The NRO and NASA had multiple meetings discussing the required technology for Lunar Mapping. Specifically, the NASA Apollo Applicant Working Group (dated on 6-9 December 1966) considered the following optical sensors:

  • A camera from the uncrewed lunar orbiter
  • 12-inch (300 mm) focal length panoramic camera
  • The multi-spectral experiment reviewed earlier by the Department of Defense
  • 6-inch (150 mm) focal length mapping camera
  • Telescope using Questar lens (56-inch (1,400 mm) focal length) and with simplified tracking and focusing device
  • An imaging radar

In a following meeting on 31 January 1967, NASA stated at the DoD-NASA Survey Applications Coordinating Committee that "there are no sensors other than LM&SS for flight on AAP-1 [the first Apollo Applications Program mission]."[4]

According to the NRO/NASA agreement, lunar photography could be sanitized by eliminating camera scale factors. The project had the unclassified name of Lunar Mapping and Survey System (LM&SS) in NASA channels.[1]

The success of both Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor negated the use of the LM&SS system. There are no recorded spaceflights with these systems. NASA terminated all activity associated with hardware and software procurement, development, and testing for LM&SS on August 2, 1967.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Memorandum by DNRO Flax to Dep SECDEF, 6 Jul 1967: National Recon Program (NRP) Issues and Pending Decisions". National Reconnaissance Office. 6 July 1967 – via Scribd.
  2. ↑ Day, Dwayne A. (29 November 2010). "Black Apollo". The Space Review. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  3. ↑ Day, Dwayne A. (6 December 2010). "Apollo: secrets and whispers". The Space Review. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 "NASA Plans Regarding UPWARD". Retrieved 6 June 2022 – via Google Docs.
  5. ↑ Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Brooks, Courtney G.; Ertel, Ivan D.; Newkirk, Roland W. "PART II: Apollo Application Program -January 1967 to December 1968.". SKYLAB: A CHRONOLOGY. NASA Special Publication-4011. NASA. pp. 118–120. Retrieved 9 May 2023.


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