MISSION 1103 PHOTOGRAPHIC EVALUATION INTERIM REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78B04549A001000030009-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 20, 2008
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: June 14, 1968
• Content Type: CABLE

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SUBJECT: MISSION 1103 PHOTOGRAPHIC EVALUATION INTERIM REPORT (PEIR)
REF A 006
B 0049
1. NUMERICAL SUMMARY
MSN NO AND DATES:
LAUNCH DATE AND TIME:
VEHICLE NUMBER:
CAMERA SYSTEM:
PAN CAMERA NO:
DISIC CAMERA NO:
STELLAR LENS NOS:
TERRAIN LENS NO:
RECOVERY REVS:
AFT-LOOKING
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1103-1, 1-8 MAY 1968
1103-29 8-15 MAY 1968
1 MAY 1968/2131Z
1643
CR3
FORWARD LOOKING, 307
AFT LOOKING, 306
5
3, 8P
06
MSN 1103-1, 115
MSN 1103-2, 228
WRATTEN 25 FILTER (PRIMARY).
WRATTEN 12 FILTER (ALTERNATE).
SLIT WIDTHS: 0.205, 0.310,
0.310, 0.110, AND A FAIL SAFE
SLIT OF 0.300 INCH
WRATTEN 21 FILTER (PRIMARY).
SF05 (MODIFIED WRATTEN 57)
FILTER (ALTERNATE). SLIT WIDTHS:
0.134, 0.200, 0.2659 0.134 WITH
FAIL SAFE SLIT OF 0. 165 INCH
3. PERFORMANCE SUMMARY
THE PET JUDGED THE GENERAL IMAGE QUALITY OF MISSION 1103 A
AND NOT AS GOOD AS MISSION 1102. THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT VARIA
IN IMAGE QUALITY THAT WAS GREATER THAN NORMALLY ENCOUNTERED WI
CORONA SYSTEM. THIS VARIABILITY RANGES FROM RATHER GOOD TO P00
THE PHOTOINTERPRETERS REPORTED THAT, "THE INTERPRETABILITY OF
DISTRIBUTION'
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IMAGERY ON THIS MISSION IS CONSIDERED TO.: BE MORE VARIABLE THAN THE DV.NCE Cy
IMAGERY OBTAINED ON MISSIONS 1 101 AND 1 102. IN ADDITION. THE sINdtTIZED
OF THE FWD LOOKING CAMERA RECORD IS SUPERIOR TO THAT OF rl'H TEXT
MERA IN ALMOST EVERY CASE. THE OVERALL MISSION INTER-
Y IS RATED AS FAIR". THE EXACT CAUSE OF THE VARIABILITYN
IS NOT CLEAR, MAJOR FACTORS, HOWEVER, APPEAR TO BE HAZE AND FOCUS.
THIS MISSION WAS SEVERELY AFFECTED BY HAZE, BUT IT. CANNOT BE
POSITIVELY STATED THAT WEATHER WAS THE MAJOR CAUSE OF THE QUALITY
VARIATION. THE GENERAL QUALITY OF THE AFT RECORD IS LESS. THAN THAT
OF THE FWD. IN GENERAL, THE AFT RECORD APPEARS TO HAVE SLIGHTLY
SOFTER FORMS. ALTHOUGH THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE OF BETTER AFT
IMAGERY ON THE VERY FIRST PORTIONS OF THE MISSION, AFT IMAGERY
COMPARABLE TO THAT OF THE EARLY PORTIONS IS NOT EVIDENCED LATER
IN THE MISSION, EVEN WHEN FAVORABLE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXISTED.
THIS PROBLEM IS DISCUSSED IN SECTION 5, COMMENTS. THE QUALITY OF
THE GREEN (SF-05) RECORD IS NOT AS GOOD AS THE NORMAL (WRATTEN 21)
AFT RECORD, NOR IS IT AS GOOD AS THE GREEN RECORD FROM MISSION
1102. FURTHER, THE DIFFERENCES IN'QUALITY BETWEEN THE SF-05 AND
WRATTEN 21 RECORDS FROM 1103 APPEARS TO BE GREATER THAN THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE RECORDS ON MISSION 1102. THERE IS EVIDENCE
THAT AT LEAST A PORTION-OF THE DEGRADATION IN OVERALL MISSION QUALITY
IS DUE TO IMAGE SMEAR. THIS CONDITION IS APPARENT ON FRAMES WHERE
THE MAXIMUM SLIT WIDTH.WAS USED. FOCUS VARIABILITY APPEARS TO HAVE
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BEEN THE MAJOR CAUSE OF IMAGE DEGRADATION. HOWEVER, SEVERE HAZE,
THERMAL GRADIENTS, FOCUS AND SMEAR OFTEN COMBINED TO PRODUCE IMAGERY
POORER THAN THAT ATTRIBUTABLE TO FOCUS ALONE.'ALSO, IN SOME CASE,
THESE FACTORS APPEARED TO BE MINIMIZED IN SUCH A MANNER TO PRODUCE
GOOD IMAGERY. THE ULTIMATE CAPABILITY OF THE MISSION 1103 CAMERA
SYSTEM IS INDICATED BY THE RESOLUTION LEVEL AND FROM GROUND TARGETS.
OBILE TARGETS WERE THE BEST YET RECORDED PRODUCING~
WHEREAS THE BEST FIXED TARGET PRODUCED
READINGS ARE INDICATIVE, HOWEVER, ONLY OF BEST PERFORMANCE AND
NOT GENERAL PERFORMANCE.
4. PANORAMIC CAMERA ANOMALIES
A. ANOMALY: AN AREA RANGING FROM ABOUT 1-5 INCHES OF DISTURBED
IMAGERY OCCURRED ON THE FORWARD UNIT WITH A SIMILAR BUT SMALLER AREA
ON THE AFT. THE AREA OF MAJOR DISTURBANCE (1103-1 ONLY) WAS FOUND TO
BE CONFINED TO THE FIRST FIVE FRAMES FOLLOWING A LONG SIT PERIOD;
HOWEVER, A SMALLER SOFT FOCUS AREA PERSISTED THROUGHOUT THE MISSION.
ABOUT 1.75 PERCENT OF THE FRAMES AND ABOUT 0.2 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL
AREA COVERAGE WAS AFFECTED BY THIS ANOMALY.
CAUSE: A LONG SIT PERIOD, USUALLY IN EXCESS OF SIX HOURS DEFORMS
THE FILM WHERE IT PASSES AROUND VARIOUS ROLLERS, OR THRU AIR TWISTS.
NORMALLY, CAMERA TRANSPORT TENSIONS TEND TO ELIMINATE THESE DE-
FORMATIONS, BUT IN MISSION 1103 THIS WAS NOT TRUE AS IT IS BELIEVED
THAT THE TAKE-UP TENSIONS ON THE 1103-1 PORTION OF THE MISSION
WERE LOWER THAN SPECIFIED.
ACTION: INVESTIGATION AND TESTS ARE CONTINUING AT
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THIS ANOMALY. (MONITOR:
B. ANOMALY: THE AFT CAMERA FRAMES 15, 16, 17 ON PASS DOS
1103-1 AND FRAME 28 ON PASS D218 1103-2 EXHIBIT A LOSS OF SLP
DATA BLOCKS. THE HORIZON IMAGERY AND FIDUCIALS ASSOCIATED WITH
FRAMES 16 AND 18 OF DOS, AND FRAME 29 OF D218 ARE ALSO MISSING.
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ANOMALY AND INSTRUMENT SHUT DOWN ON DOS,
FRAMES 16, 17, 18, 19 EXHIBITED HEAVIER DENSITY. .
CAUSE: DUE TO MARGINAL CF SWITCH OVER TRAVEL ADJUSTMENT,.
SWITCH ACTUATION WAS NOT COMPLETED DURING THE REPORTED FRAMES.
ACTION: ALL SUBSEQUENT SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES WILL BE
REVIEWED FOR CORRECT SWITCH ADJUSTMENTS. (MONITOR:
C. ANOMALY: THE 27TH RAIL HOLE IMAGE FROM THE T/U END OF THE
FORMAT (10TH FROM CF) ON-THE BINARY TIME EDGE IS MISSING ON BOTH
INSTRUMENTS FOR 1103-1 AND 1103-2.
CAUSE: THIS RAIL HOLE WAS INCORRECTLY PLUGGED AT
ACTION: NONE REQUIRED.
D. ANOMALY: THE HORIZON IMAGERY AND FIDUCIALS ASSOCIATED WITH
FRAMES 13 AND 15 OF PASS D06 ARE MISSING.
CAUSE: DURING THE FLIGHT READINESS AT A CRACK WAS
NOTED IN THE SUPPORT CASE OF THE 1/2 REV SW CH. THIS SWITCH
WAS REPLACED. APPARENT CAUSE OF THE FAILURE IS BELIEVED TO BE
A RESULT OF THIS SWITCH REPLACEMENT.
ACTION: ALL SUBSEQUENT SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES WILL BE
REVIEWED FOR CORRECT SWTT CH INSTALLATION AND ADJUSTMENT.
(MONITOR:
E. ANOMALY: A FOG PATTERN ASSOCIATED WITH THE BINARY TIME
WORD OCCASIONALLY APPEARS ON ONE OR MORE FRAMES NEAR THE END OF AN
OPERATION OF THE FORWARD-LOOKING CAMERA.
CAUSE: THESE FOG PATTERNS APPROXIMATELY MATCH'TWO EDGES
OF THE SLP BLOCK. A POSSIBLE CAUSE IS-LIGHT REFLECTIONS.
LACK OF APPLICABLE O.N. MATERIAL LIMITS ANALYSIS.
ACTION: CONTINUE INVESTTGATTON OF CAHSRS FR
AND TEST FILM. (MONITORS:
F. ANOMALY: FUZZY BINARY TIME WORDS ON BOTH FORWARD AND
AFT CAMERA RECORDS THROUGHOUT THE MISSION.
CAUSE: SLIGHT VARIATIONS IN FILM TENSION, SLP CLAMP ALIGN-
MENT, OR SCRAPED EMULSION BUILDUPS, WILL CAUSE NOTICEABLE
VARIATIONS IN TIME. WORD SHARPNESS AND DENSITY.
ACTION: NO DIFFICULTY WAS ENCOUNTERED. DURING AUTOMATIC
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READOUT OF THESE TIME WORDSMICRODENSITOMETER
ENTIRELY ACCEPTABLE CHARACTERISTICS,
BOTH PAN CAMERAS ARE CONSIDERED NORMAL. NO ACTION IS INDICATED.
G. ANOMALY: MINOR CORONA FOG AFFECTED SMALL AREAS ALONG THE
TIME TRACK EDGE OF THE AFT-LOOKING CAMERA RECORD. THIS MARKING
GENERALLY AFFECTED THE LAST AND NEXT TO LAST FRAMES OF AN OPERATION
BUT OCCASIONALLY EXTENDED FIVE TO EIGHT FRAMES INTO AN OPERATION.
CAUSE: REAL TIME TELEMETRY DATA SHOWED AN ABNORMAL DELAY
IN PRESSURE BUILDUP AT THE START OF MONITORED OPERATIONS.
THE PROBABLE CAUSE IS A MALFUNCTION OF THE PMU HIGH PRESSURE
VALVE. AT LOW SYSTEM PRESSURES, CORONA MARKING WAS EXPECTED.
ACTION: A SIMILAR PROBLEM HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED FROM EN-
VIRONMENTAL TEST OF T 4 SYSTEM. CORRECTIVE ACTION IS
BEING INVESTIGATED AT (MONITOR:
H. ANOMALY: EXTREMELY SMALL PLUS DENSITY DOTS A PRESENT
THROUGHOUT MISSION 1103-2 ON THE FWD CAMERA. THESE DOTS OCCUR AT
A SIX AND ONE-FOURTH INCH INTERVAL, ONE INCH FROM THE FILM TIME TRACK
EDGE.
CAUSE: APPARENTLY, SOMETIME FOLLOWING FILM TRANSFER TO THE
B SRV, A FOREIGN PARTICLE WAS IMBEDDED IN EITHER THE INPUT
METERING OR THE FRAME METERING ROLLER, WHICH RESULTED IN A PLUS
DENSITY MARK ON THE MATERIAL EACH TIME THE ROLLER ROTATED.
ACTION: NO ACTION REQUIRED.
5. DISIC STELLAR CAMERA PERFORMANCE:
A. THE STELLAR CAMERAS FUNCTIONED PROPERLY-THROUGHOUT THE
MISSION AND RECORDED A FULL FIELD OF STARS ON BOTH THE PORT AND
STARBOARD CAMERAS. THE MODIFIED BOOT BAFFLES DID NOT VIGNETTE
AND/OR FLARE IN THE MANNER EXHIBITED ON MISSION 1102. THE BAFFLE
.DESIGN AS USED ON MISSION 1103 IS THEREFORE CONSIDERED SUITABLE
FOR FUTURE MISSIONS.
B. DISIC TERRAIN CAMERA EVALUATION: THE IMAGE QUALITY IS
GOOD WITH,BETTER DEFINITION THAN THAT OBTAINED ON MISSION 1102.
THE TERRAIN LENS EMPLOYED A MODIFIED SHUTTER WHICH PROVIDED A
RELATIVE APERTURE OF F/6.3 RATHER THAN THE BASIC LENS RELATIVE
APERTURE OF F/4.5. THIS CHANGE IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE REASON
FOR THE IMPROVED PERFORMANCE. THIS SHUTTER MODIFICATION IS BEING
CONSIDERED FOR THE THREE CAMERAS WHICH DO NOT HAVE F/6.3 LENSES.
6. DISIC ANOMALIES
A. ANOMALY: PRESSURE MARKS OUTSIDE FORMAT OF STELLAR RECORD.
THESE MARKS ARE PRESENT IN THE BORDERS ALONG BOTH FILM EDGES OF
THE ENTIRE STELLAR RECORD. NEITHER THE FORMATS NOR DATA. RECORDINGS
ARE AFFECTED.
CAUSE: SKEW BEADS. THIS IS A SYSTEM CHARACTERISTIC THAT
IS NOT CONSIDERED OBJECTIONABLE AS LONG AS THE MARKS ARE CLEAR
OF THE FORMATS AND DATA.
ACTION: NONE.
B. ANOMALY: MINUS DENSITY SPOTS ON FRAMES WHICH APPEAR TO BE
CAUSED BY DIRT ON THE RESEAU PLATE.
CAUSE: DIRT AND FILM/EMULSION PARTICLES CARRIED TO T:HE
FOCAL PLANE PLATE BY THE FILM.
ACTION: CONTINUED ATTENTION TO CLEANLINESS PRIOR TO FLIGHT.
PARTICLES CARRIED BY FILM CANNOT BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED.
C. ANOMALY: DENDRITIC AND CORONA TYPE FOG PATTERNS CAUSED BY
STATIC DISCHARGES ARE PRESENT INTERMITTENTLY THROUGHOUT THE STELLAR
CAMERA RECORD. THEY VARY IN SIZE AND INTENSITY AND IN SOME INSTANCES
ENTER THE FORMAT AREA.
CAUSE: THE PRIMARY CORONA FOG PATTERN THAT APPEARS
THROUGHOUT THE MISSION IS LIGHT AND IS MOSTLY OUTSIDE THE
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FORMAT AREA. JHE SPECIFIC CAUSE IS NOT KNOWN9 BUT IT APPEARS
TO OCCUR AT A SENSITIVE PRESSURE REGION BETWEEN PMU-ON AND
.PMU-OFF PAYLOAD PRESSURES. A DENDRITIC FOG PATTERN APPEARS
IN THE CENTER OF SEVERAL STELLAR FORMATS NEAR THE END OF
1103-2, FADES, AND DOES NOT APPEAR AT THE END OF 1103-2,
THIS MARK HAS NOT-BEEN OBSERVED IN ANY DISIC ALTITUDE
TESTS TO DATE. CAUSE IS UNKNOWN.
ACTION: DISIC S/N59 INCORPORATED IN 1103, REPRESENTS AN
INTERMEDIATE STAGE IN DISIC DESIGN MODIFICATIONS THAT HAVE
BEEN MADE TO REDUCE CORONA MARKING. THE CURRENT DESIGN CONFIG-
URATION IS EFFECTIVE ON DISIC S/N6 AND UP.
D. ANOMALY: DENDRITIC TYPE FOG PATTERNS ARE PRESENT OCCASIONALLY
THROUGHOUT THE TERRAIN CAMERA RECORD.
CAUSE: THESE MARKS EMANATE FROM THE FILM EDGE. THIS IS
CHARACTERISTIC OF UNSPOOLING OR ROLLER FLANGE DISCHARGE.
FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY IS MINOR.
ACTION: NO SPECIFIC ACTION IS PLANNED BEYOND THE CURRENT
MARKING FIXES INCORPORATED IN DOWN-STREAM UNITS.
E. ANOMALY: STELLAR AND TERRAIN TIME WORDS APPEAR "FUZZY".
CAUSE: THE SLP'S IN THE TERRAIN AND STELLAR CAMERAS ARE
INSTALLED ON THE BASE SIDE OF THE FILM WHICH RESULTS IN IMAGES
THAT HAVE LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE EDGE SHARPNESS. THESE
IMAGES, HOWEVER, ARE NORMALLY-WELL WITHIN DISIC SPECIFICATION
REQUIREMENTS. ON 1103, THE TERRAIN CAMERA TIME WORDS APPEAR
NORMAL. THE STELLAR CAMERA TIME WORDS EXHIBIT SOME FALL-OFF
IN DENSITY IN THE DIRECTION AWAY FROM THE EDGE OF THE RECORD.
THIS IS CHARACTERISTIC OF AN SLP THAT IS NOT ADEQUATELY
PARALLEL TO THE FILM SURFACE. THE MOST FREQUENT CAUSE OF
THIS ANOMALY IN TEST HAS BEEN SLP COCKING INISUCED BY THE HEAVY
SLP CABLES.
ACTION: ADDITIONAL CABLE TIE DOWNS AND TEST PROCEDURES
WILL BE EMPLOYED TO MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF RECURRENCE.
7. SPECIAL EXPERIMENTS
A. ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FEET OF SO-230 (UTB) WERE USED
ON EACH PANORAMIC CAMERA. THE PET CONSIDERS THAT UTB GAVE AS GOOD A
PRODUCT AS 3404 TYPE FILM FURTHER D ANALYSIS OF SO-380
IS BEING CONDUCTED BY
B. THE STELLAR RECORD N MISSION 1103-2 CONTAINED A COMBINATION
LOAD (1,800 FEET OF TYPE 3401 FILM WITH A TRAILER OF 200 FEET OF
TYPE 340.0 FILM). USER EVALUATION OF THE NUMBER OF USEABLE STELLAR
IMAGES AND THE MENSURATION ACCURACIES OBTAINED WITH 3400 VERSUS THOSE
OBTAINED WITH 3401 IS REQUIRED TO DETERMINE WHICH FILM SHOULD BE
USED ON FUTURE MISSIONS. MAXIMUM STAR MAGNITUDES RECORDED ON 3400_
FILM, MISSION 1103, RANGE FROM FIFTH MAGNITUDE TO A FEW OF SIXTH
MAGNITUDE. STAR IMAGES RECORDED ON FILM TYPE 3401 RANGE TO SIXTH
MAGNITUDE WITH A FEW AT SEVENTH MAGNITUDE.
8. COMMENTS:
A. MINUS DENSITY MARKS (SPERM SHAPED) WERE SEEN ON MOST FOR-
WARD CAMERA OPERATES WITH THE SO-380 MATERIAL. THESE MARKINGS ARE ?
MOST APPARENT ON HOMOGENEOUS SCENES OF MODERATE TO HIGH DENSITY.
THERE WAS ALSO A CORRELATION WITH THE SIT PERIODS, THAT IS9 THE
HEAVIEST MARKS OCCURRED ON FRAMES THREE AND FOUR. THIS EFFECT
MAY PROVE TO BE ONLY A BEAUTY DEFECT SINCE THIS MISSION DID NOT
HAVE TENSIONS CORRECTLY SET FOR THE SO-380 MATERIAL.
B. SOME OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE
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VARIABILITY SEEN IN THE IMAGERY THROUGHOUT THE MISSION.
(1) A THERMAL GRADIENT ALONG THE LENS ASSEMBLY (HOT
DOGGING) INTRODUCED A PLUS OR MINUS 0.0004 INCH FOCUS
SHIFT.
(2) THE FILM LIFT. PLANE, NORMAL SPREAD PLUS THAT FROM
TENSION VARIATIONS GENERATE A PLANE CHANGE OF 0.0005 INCH.
(3) THE CERTAINTY OF THE PEAK FOCUS PLANE HAS A SPREAD
OF PLUS OR MINUS 0.0003 INCH.
(4) THIS SYSTEM WAS FOCUSED WITH THE PEAK FOCUS (LOW
CONTRAST) AT INFINITY, A MINUS VARIATION OF 0.001 INCH (FILM
PLANE MOVED TOWARD THE LENS) WOULD LOWER THE IMAGE QUALITY BY 25
PERCENT WHILE A PLUS MOVEMENT OF 0,001 INCH WILL CHANGE THE
IMAGE QUALITY BY 5 PERCENT.
(5) THE FOCUS SETTINGS ON FUTURE SYSTEMS WILL BE SET TO
PERMIT A MORE BALANCED IMAGE QUALITY TOLERANCE RANGE, I.E.,
SLIGHTLY MORE TO THE PLUS SIDE.
T 0 P S E C R E T
END OF MDESSAGE
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