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/specialCollection/MissileGap/1961/1961-04-25.pdf

Central Intelligence Agency · 101 pages · text from the file's own layer

This is National Intelligence Estimate 11-5-61, Soviet Technical Capabilities in Guided Missiles and Space Vehicles. It was submitted by the Director of Central Intelligence and concurred in by the United States Intelligence Board on 25 April 1961. The estimate assesses Soviet surface-to-air, antimissile, air-to-air, air-to-surface, ballistic, ICBM, naval and space programs. It concludes that the first Soviet ICBM unit was probably operational around 1 January 1960. It also says there is no evidence the Soviets are developing offensive space weapons. It contains no UFO material.

  • p. 79 …The first attempt to launch a Venus probe succeeded in orbiting the earth satellite, Sputnik VII…
  • p. 81 …Unmanned Earth Satellites. Earth satellite vehicles offer significant advances over conventional techniques for acquiring information on…
  • p. 83 …Unmanned Earth Orbiting Flight: 15,000-20,000 pounds, low orbit Military satellites Communications Weather surveillance…
Table 4
SUMMARY OF SOVIET-ANNOUNCED SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION •
For Soviet Earth Satellites and Space Probes
Instrumentation (Soviet Terminology) SPUTNIK
I
SPUTNIK
I I
SPUTNIK
III
-LUNIK I LUNEN: II I I I
SPUTNIK
V
VENUS
PROBE
VERTICAL
ROCKETS
Internal Temperature X X X X ... .. .. X
Internal Pressure X X X X ... .. • • • •
Magnetometer .• • .. X X • • ' • X X
Solar Radiation:
Corpuscular (sir) ... X X .. .. .. . X
Ultraviolet ... .. . , .. .. .. • • •
X-Radiation .. .. .. .. X ' .. X • - • '
Cosmic Rays:
Heavy nuclei ... .. X .. .. X • • X
Light nuclei .. .. .. .. .. .. X ..
Multieharged Particles
Photon Showers
..
..
• .
. .
..
X
..
X
. ..
. .
.. X
X - -
- •
• •
X
Primary (composition) X X X X .. X X X
Magnetic Manometerer
Ionization Manometer
Ion Traps
Electrostatic Fluxmetcr
Mass Spectrometer
Micrometeor Detector
..
...
..
. •
•
• .
..
. .
. .
, .
X
X
X
X
X
..
..
. .
. .
X
. .
. .
. •
X
..
..
..
..
..
. ,
. .
• .
"
. •
. .
- •
' •
"
"
"
X
X
X
X
X
X
Automatic Monitoring of condition or state of
Micro-organisms.
.. . . . . . . .. .. X .. "
Spaccmatter Density
Radiation Around Earth
,
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
N
X
..
..
..
..
X
.. "
Radiation Around Moon . . . .. X .. .. • •
Tetnperatures (Space) • . .. .. X . .
Radiation (sic)
Lunar Photography
Sodium Cloud Experimentation
Lunar-Magnetic Field
..
..
..
..
.
.
•
•
.
. •
'
'
• •
..
X
• •
..
..
X
X
X
X
• '
• '
' '
• '
"
"
' '
' •
"
• •
' •
• '
' •
• No specific information as to instrumentation rcicasecl by the USSR. on Sputa ks IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX. X, or N: . Iii addition to instraincotation,
Sputnik II carried a dog, Sputniks V and VI each carried two dogs plus other biological specimens, Sputnik IX carried a dog and other biological specimens,
and Sputnik XI carried a man.

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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 101 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.