-11- 
The validity of this approach was amply demonstrated when a similar 
system was carried around the Moon on Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17. 
A photogrammetric control net and topographic maps with 15 m horizontal 
and vertical accuracy are now being produced for the Moon from these 
photographs. 
In the NAS proposal the camera systems would be mounted in an un 
manned spacecraft, and exposed film would be accumulated in a capsule at 
the front of the vehicle. After all film had been expended, the film 
capsule would be ejected and recovered by aircraft. This approach was 
seriously considered but failed to win final approval. The best hope 
for such a system now is an unmanned package to be launched and serviced 
by the Shuttle. 
It requires no great talent in cost-effectiveness analysis to 
determine that a manned mission is a poor way to acquire photographs. 
Too many constraints are imposed on spacecraft dimensions, cost, power, 
weight, orbit, and lifetime just to keep the crew alive and assure their 
return. The photographic coverage patterns achieved by Skylab in a year 
of operation are effective documentation of the results obtainable from 
a manned mission. Hardly a single standard map sheet at scales compatib l 
with the resolution of the photographs was covered with cloud-free pictu r , 
In terms cTf controlling camera operation, an electronic black box can do 
everything a man can do--and more--at an infinitesimal part of the cost. 
Most assuredly there is a continuing requirement for the low- 
resolution repetitive synoptic multispectral data typefied by ERTS-1. 
But equally assured is a requirement for high-resolution, photogrammetrical1) 
designed photography useful for standard topographic mapping. Undoubtedly 
there are severe political problems--much more stringent than the technical 
ones--in acquiring high-resolution data from space (14). But unless these 
problems are faced and solved, the full benefit of space sensing will 
simply not be available to nations of the Earth. What is needed is a 
resolve to build and operate systems which are obviously required to 
produce the most useful information. More critical than the technical 
problems are the organizational and administrative structures that will 
permit the information to be acquired and disseminated worldwide without 
offending national sensitivities (15).