Space shuttle was photographed by Keyhole spy satellite
I recently read a fantastic history of the Space Shuttle.
Arrggh - can't remember the title.
The book shows how a KH 11 Kennen satellite was manouvered (sp?) to take images of the first Shuttle flight to check for damage before it re-entered. NASA was concerned about tile damage even then.
Sadly there was no such surveillance of the final flight of Columbia.
Perhaps this is a similar exercise? Then agian one would imagine if regular resupply missions are taking place then the astronaults will have a good gander attheir new home and check for damage.
One might imagine the ISS could be used for calibration of the spy sat cameras.
But again this can be done with a target on the ground - the Tate Modern has an artwork which shows just such a calibration target painted out on the New Mexico desert.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
