![]() ![]() It was not long before the press started reporting SAMOS as an acronym." PIONEER/SAMOS-Aīy © Charles P. Noting that MIDAS had already been selected as the nameįor the early warning satellite he noted that MIDAS lived on the isle of Fritz Oder in the belief that no one could produceĪn acroynm from it. In fact, the name SAMOS was chosen by 117L "It has generally been observed that SAMOS was an acronym for SatelliteĪnd Missile Observation System. Richelson's excellent book "America's Secret Eyes in Space" (Harper and Row, * An interesting note on the project name is presented on page 44 of James In 1962, a veil of secrecy was drawn across the SAMOS program, and the Airįorce stopped releasing information about it. One in October 1960, which failed, and one in January 1961, which was successful. Instead of the Thor used to launch the Discoverer. SAMOS, the second program that evolved from WS 117L, aimed at developingĪ heavier reconnaissance satellite that would be launched by an Atlas booster Discoverer and SAMOS were to carry out the photo reconnaissance mission,Īnd MIDAS was to carry out the missile warning mission. Had evolved into three separate programs: the Discoverer Program, the SatelliteĪnd Missile Observation System (SAMOS)*, and the Missile Detection Alarm System Including photo reconnaissance and missile warning. To be a family of separate subsystems that could carry out different missions, Theįirst satellite program was known as the Military Satellite System (WS 117L),Īnd the division was given responsibility for it in February 1956. Increasingly important role in the activities of the division's successors. Military satellite projects were added to the mission of the Western Developmentĭivision in the mid-1950's and came to play an
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