Author Archives: joepageii

What was the Arizona Test Range?

Peeling back the layers of this Casa Grande Concrete Crosses mystery, I keep running across other tangential topics that are related but have about as much mass as a vapor cloud. This post details the Arizona Test Range, which you’d think from the name would PERFECTLY fit the idea of the crosses. Add to thisContinue reading “What was the Arizona Test Range?”

Onizuka Air Force **Base**

Yeah, this seems silly to post, but I’ve gotten so many comments from people about my “misnaming” of the base. I know between the name “Sunnyvale Air Force Station” and “Onizuka Air Station” there were at least two other names: Air Force Base and Air Force Station. This gentleman’s picture (shamelessly pilfered from FB) clearlyContinue reading “Onizuka Air Force **Base**”

Zoom Talk w/Saratoga Historical Society (CA)

On Monday October 25, I had an hour-and-a-half Zoom presentation with the Saratoga Historical Society (CA) about Onizuka Air Force Base. I’m always a bit nervous when I start my presentations, but that dissipated quickly. As I mention in my talk, the material was going to be covered at a “35K foot level going aboutContinue reading “Zoom Talk w/Saratoga Historical Society (CA)”

Onizuka AFS History: Land Purchase

Inclosed (sic) is a letter from Lockheed Aircraft Corporation offering to transfer to the Air Force, without cost, a 11.4 acre site adjacent to the Sentry Production Plant at Sunnyvale, California for the construction of the Sentry Development Control Center 2. A survey was made of all government-owned property in the vicinity of San Francisco,Continue reading “Onizuka AFS History: Land Purchase”

Video: OV-103 Discovery in the NRP

Here’s a video I created a few years ago based off some NRO-released information. I’m still chipping away a the large chunk of information linking [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] to the space shuttle program. Unlike most of the humans born in or near the 21st Century, I’m still working on my video editing skills. Maybe IContinue reading “Video: OV-103 Discovery in the NRP”

Chronology Of NASA-NRO Interaction: 1961-Present

Source: “Sharing Space: The Secret Interaction Between NASA and the NRO: 1961-1995.” 1957 October: Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite, ushering in the space age and the space race. 1958 January: United States launches its first satellite, Explorer-1, aboard Army Jupiter-C booster. February: United States begins work on a film-return photo reconnaissanceContinue reading “Chronology Of NASA-NRO Interaction: 1961-Present”

New NRO Monograph: Sharing Space

I got this in the mail a week or two ago. I expected a stuffy manuscript of early NRO-NASA interactions up to the UPWARD series during the Apollo years. Boy, was I surprised… To name a few of the NASA and NRO programs covered within: Lunar Orbiter (reusing SAMOS hardware) Lunar Mapping and Survey SystemContinue reading “New NRO Monograph: Sharing Space”

Onizuka AFS history talk post-event thoughts

It’s funny to think that while I work with Timing (with a capital “T”), timing has never been my strong suit. When I started researching early book projects, I was usually a “day late, and a dollar short.” People who had worked on systems or in places I wanted to write about had already passedContinue reading “Onizuka AFS history talk post-event thoughts”

An unexpected small reminder to “Never Forget”

Even with the location of Kirtland Air Force Base being within the city limits of Albuquerque, I would never think of this place as “a military town.” That moniker usually sticks to towns outside of Army posts that have a pathway of liquor stores, pawn shops, and (often) strip joints up to the entry checkpoint.Continue reading “An unexpected small reminder to “Never Forget””