joepageii

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”

Well, he wasn’t wrong…

I’ve got another agency that does not like dealing with me when I ask for historical records. They, however, know the law and what they are supposed to do with an information request. To their credit, this agency has slipped in a double entendre when presenting me the redacted historical information:

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””

Nothing to Say… Just Pretty Pictures from 1984

Burden of Proof or Why I cannot convince you of a negative

Yeah, I waste time on Facebook – this I cannot deny. I try to limit the time I spend there, but the diminishing rate of return (relevant information vs time spent) has been steadily decreasing over the last few years. (Note to my readers viewing this on FB: this is not an anti-FB rant) InContinue reading “Burden of Proof or Why I cannot convince you of a negative”