Spying from Space: Constructing America's Satellite Command and Control Systems

This book is for the satellite enthusiast in great detail and scientific format.

I've updated my review based upon a *more* seasoned look at the information declassified about the Air Force Satellite Control Facility (AFSCF), the system described in Arnold's "Spying From Space." Full disclosure: I wrote a book about Onizuka AFB, which is home to the AFSCF, so I know more than most laypersons (who didn't work at the Blue Cube).I don't think I appreciated the deftness that Col. Arnold possessed to write such a book. My youthful arrogance strung throughout my previous review played up the fact that "he didn't cover [topic 1], [topic 2], and [topic 3]." But, I have been humbled by the amount of material that he included that *was not* available to the public at the time of book publication. Not to say he used classified materials - no, Col. Arnold worked through bureaucratic red-tape to get declassified materials from the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Lockheed, and the NRO (to name a few) as the foundational references for the book. His doctoral thesis (on which this book is based) is amazingly simple, describing a system that was incongruently complex (multiple ground sites, various comm systems, differing locations around the world). But "simple" does not equal bad. On the contrary, anyone could read this book and get an idea about the major milestones the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) accomplished.The touch of humanity inside "Spying from Space" is heartwarming (...weird thing to say about a space history book!). There is an image of Santa's sleigh being pulled along by rockets at one of the AFSCF's remote ground sites, and anecdotal stories about the scoring system used by the sites brought a good belly laugh.I cannot say enough good things about a book that I've read about 10 times straight through. Yes, it is taken from a systems engineering point-of-view: it was a technological marvel for its time... and even through today. (The AFSCN makes the U.S. space and reconnaissance network the formidable force it is.)I might say that the book is dated, only in that follow-on reconnaissance systems (KH-7 and KH-8 GAMBIT, KH-9 HEXAGON) have been declassified after he published it. But the AFSCF fundamentals remain the same - minus some technobabble only *serious tech geeks* care about.If you were turned off from this book by my previous review... give it another shot. You won't regret it. (I certainly have given Spying From Space its due, albeit years later.)**********************************************************************************************Old Review:I'll admit that from the cover, to the title and the topic, I was excited about getting this book. Even the approximately $50 pricetag didn't seem too much to pay for what I thought I was getting. I was a bit disappointed when I did receive the book, but after re-examining the text, I found it did have its merits.First of all - it is not a 'highly-charged' read about the U.S. Air Force's space surveillance capabilities. It is a systems engineering book about the contractors and Bluesuiters that built the Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN). Granted, it does have its interesting ancedotes and even General LeMay makes an appearance in one. But it seemed the information presented may have been easier to digest in a chronologically tabulated format (i.e. year - event).I wanted stories of design and operations of the AFSCN and its control node, the Satellite Control Facility or 'Blue Cube' in California, from its inception to present day. There are a couple images of the SCF from the early days, but no outer images from the later years (even passing motorists on Highway 101 can get better images). To add insult to injury, there isn't even a AFSCF logo printed on the photo pages.I am a realist and unfortunately also a space professional, and I understand that contracting decisions and conversations from 40 years ago do have relevance on today's systems. For the life of me, I cannot figure out who this book was aimed at - systems engineers, space professionals or just the author's Ph.D board? But the least the author could have done was NOT set us adventurers up for failure by including the "Spying from Space" in the title.

The author has spent many hours interviewing key military and contractor personnel.He has received many messages and researched Air Force archives for historicalmaterial. I worked as a Lockheed Engineering Instructor, Technical Training Coordinator,and System Engineering Specialist from 1963 thru 1992 at the Satellite Test Center in Sunnyvale. I really enjoyed this book since it gave me a detailed and accurate description of the Air Force Space/Ground System and its evolution.

This is one of three excellent sources of data on the Corona spy project..I live in the middle of the 'calibration targets area' south of Casa Grande, AZ, got to wondering what they are/were, and now am in awe of the scope of the US spy satellite program and the gigantic leaps in technology they made in such a short time. I now have a hobby.:)

The effort told half of the story. What is missing are the roles played by Ramo Wooldridge/Space Technology Labs, CIA, and Rome Air Development Center and the interface with Lockheed, and others