8161

Genetrix Reconnaissance Dual-Lens Camera

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Genetrix Reconnaissance Dual-Lens Camera

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Auction Date:2020 Apr 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Dual-lens camera designed for application in the secret balloon-based surveillance program codenamed Genetrix, carried out in 1956 by the US Strategic Air Command to obtain imagery of the USSR and its allies. Housed in a black 21? x 12.5? x 18? case, the lenses are marked "(E.F.L 152.55mm) 2-6140" and "(E.F.L. 153.85mm) 2-6041." Inside the camera, a large segment of 9.5?-wide film remains in place. Originating from the collection of Kodak camera designer Bruce Elle, this is likely a prototype or test unit. In overall very good condition.

Carrying the DMQ-1 Photographic Reconnaissance Package, which utilized a duplex camera that had two 6-inch lenses on opposite sides at a 34.5º angle to the horizon, the Genetrix program aimed to capture aerial reconnaissance imagery using stratospheric balloons carrying camera gondolas from several sites in Europe and Middle East. The camera was capable of obtaining about 500 pictures using film of 9 inches square, covering 50 miles on either side of the balloon path. The camera was built by five companies: Kodak, Bill Jack Instrument, Chicago Aerial, Fairchild Camera, and Hycon Corporation.

Beginning on January 10, 1956, the US began launching these balloon systems. Soviet intelligence recovered some of the crashed photographic gondolas, and on February 4th Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko handed a protest note to the US ambassador in Moscow regarding America's gross violation of Soviet airspace. In response, President Eisenhower halted the program on February 6th, never to resume. In all, of the 516 balloon systems launched, only 40 returned photographic results; however, in the pre-satellite age, these were among the best and most complete images obtained of the Soviet Union by the American military. While the only immediately significant finding was the discovery of a vast nuclear refining facility at Dononovo in Siberia, the imagery later proved valuable for comparative reference against later photographs taken by U-2 spyplanes—for example, revealing construction in previously forested areas. An intriguing piece of once-classified photographic history.