Tuesday, June 23. 2009

National Applications Office Closes before it Opens

The controversial Bush administration spy satellite program, the National Applications Office, planned to be part of the Department of Homeland Security is being shut down. Some lawmakers feared it would lead to domestic spying. Local public safety officials said they had more pressing concerns and would have found the program hard to implement. The programs launch was delayed on legal grounds for about two years.

Per the Wall Street Journal:

The program would have provided federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping capabilities— to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism.

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Given the availability of very high resolution oblique imagery with multiple look angles (Pictometry data in Bing [Microsoft] Maps), it's hard to understand why folks are worried about satellites.

I also have a difficult time understanding why NRO satellites are needed to help identify vulnerable areas in ports....seems like aerial imagery would be superior.

#1 Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne (Link) on 2009-06-23 12:36 (Reply)

WRT satellites VS aerial, you've hit the nail on the head - NAO was dreamed up by people with absolutely NO IDEA of the reality on the ground in the USA. Satellites are useful when you don't control the airspace, and worthless when you can fly a plane. Since virtually every reasonably prosperous county in the US already has high-resolution aerial photography of their infrastructure, what possible purpose would NAO serve by providing a redundant satellite image?

As for the disaster response services - wide-area coverage at high resolution by aerial systems is a far more flexible, releasable, and ultimately more useful solution than a classified happy-snap taken through a soda straw.

#1.1 Archie Belaney on 2009-06-24 07:15 (Reply)

"classified happy-snap taken through a soda straw". Very poetic, Archie!

#1.1.1 Ed Gillespie on 2009-06-24 09:18 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne on 2009-06-23 12:36   #1.1: Archie Belaney on 2009-06-24 07:15     #1.1.1: Ed Gillespie on 2009-06-24 09:18
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