The Beginnings of US Overhead Reconnaissance

SpyCast

Education, News, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2014

⏱️ 51 minutes

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Summary

The development of overhead reconnaissance technology is one of the most important – if not the most important – advances in the history of intelligence. Policymakers today use IMINT from spy planes and satellites in their daily assessments of global threats, but did you know that overhead reconnaissance technology predates the advent of powered flight? SPY Historian Vince Houghton is joined by Dr. Jim Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA, to discuss Civil War balloon reconnaissance. Dr. Green, an expert in the field, explains the role of balloons in the greater Union strategy, their impact on the war effort, and the numerous and significant innovations developed by Union “aeronauts” (including the first aircraft carriers!). This interview took place May 30, 2014

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the CyberWire Museum in Washington, D.C.
0:21.0	I'm Dr. Vince Hote, the Museum's historian and curator. Every month,
0:26.2	the Museum brings you interesting talks with authors, scholars, and practitioners who live in the world of
0:31.6	global espionage.
0:33.0	Join us as we take a closer look at the secret world of intelligence.
0:38.0	So we are joined today with Dr. Jim Green, who is the Director of the Planetary Sciences Division at NASA.
0:45.6	Welcome Dr. Green. Thank you for being here.
0:48.2	I'm delighted. Thank you.
0:50.1	So what we want to talk about today other than your day job at NASA is you are an expert in Civil War balloon reconnaissance.
0:57.0	We'll get to that in a second. Let's talk a little bit about your day career.
1:01.0	Okay. A little bit about your background. You received your PhD from the your
1:03.3	background. You received her PhD from the University of Iowa in space physics?
1:08.0	Is that astrophysics or is there a difference?
1:10.4	Well it's actually doing a variety of astrophysics and planetary science and
1:15.5	and even Earth science from spacecraft. Okay, and you've worked at NASA since right
1:21.9	after you got your PhD in 1980s.
1:23.4	More than 30 years.
1:24.4	We worked her way up now as the director of this division.
1:28.0	What does your division do?
1:29.7	Well, we manage at the highest level all our planetary missions.
1:34.5	So any spacecraft that leaves the Earth and doesn't observe the Earth
1:39.5	or doesn't observe the stars in the galaxy or the sun, that's planetary sciences.
	...

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