Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear: The LANYARD Reconnaissance Satellite

Article

“Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear: The LANYARD Reconnaissance Satellite” by Dwayne A. Day
Published in Quest Volume: 29 #3 (2022)

Abstract

The Air Force’s Samos reconnaissance projects spawned several different satellite programs starting in the late 1950s. None of them were successful. Starting in December 1961 there was an effort to convert the Samos E-5 satellite camera into a program called LANYARD to serve as insurance in case a more advanced satellite failed to work. Another program, named SPARTAN, was an attempt to salvage the Samos E-6 camera system to prove its capabilities in orbit. LANYARD was an attempt to “make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” in the words of a former CIA official. Although LANYARD flew, it was short-lived, but SPARTAN never made it off the ground.

Citation

Day, Dwayne A. “Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear: The LANYARD Reconnaissance Satellite.” Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly 29, no. 3 (2022): 3-25.