Corona Satellite Calibration Target

Corona was the code name for America’s first spy satellite program, started in the 1950s. The optics for these satellites needed to be tested to verify sharpness, but how do you test the massive chunk of glass you just hurled into space? You use it to take pictures of a known reference object, in this case 272 of these concrete Maltese crosses each laid out about a mile apart in a 16x16 mile grid near Casa Grande, Arizona. By the 1970s the markers were no longer accurate due to land subsistence from groundwater extraction and so they sit today, abandoned. 🎵: Supermen by @jacob2dash2

ATT Long Lines - Whitewater, CO

Long Lines is the name of a now defunct nationwide network of nuclear hardened microwave repeaters, coaxial cables and other transmission methods built by ATT in the 1950s and 60s. Part of the Bell System, it enabled long distance transmission of telephone, television, data, and was a critical part of the Automatic Voice Network (AUTOVON), the DoD phone network that we all think of as the red phone on the President’s desk. Long lines facilities were important factors in continuity of government planning, nuclear defense and signals intelligence in addition to their role in communications. I have a map of all the sites (thanks @therealmikegilbert) and whenever I’m somewhere new I make sure to take a look for interesting ones nearby. This site is named Whitewater and is just outside of Grand Junction, Colorado. 🎵: Ukiyo - Sleep In.

Airmail Arrow

You’ve doubtless heard of the Transcontinental Railway (I hope) but have you heard of the Transcontinental Airway? Proposed by NACA, NASA’s predecessor, It was a series of lighted beacons and arrows built in the 1920s to help pilots navigate. Music is the relatively unknown track “See Saw” by the 80’s musician Mary Buffett.

Ames Monument, WY

The Ames Monument is a 60 foot tall granite pyramid in rural Wyoming built in honor of Union Pacific railroad financiers Oakes and Oliver Ames. Constructed from 1880-1882, it marked the highest point on the Transcontinental Railroad until 1918 when Union Pacific relocated the tracks 3 miles south, killing the town of Sherman that had sprung up in the vicinity. Music by @doublethink

ATT Longlines - Salton

The name of this tower is Salton. Located next to the Salton Sea, it formed yet another link in the massive network called Long Lines, which was itself a component of the Bell System. I got a chance to shoot this site when in the area recently and it may be one of my favorites so far. It’s remoteness, the stunning and diverse landscape surrounding the tower, the Salton Sea in the distance, all make for a uniquely beautiful facility.