scope:

In this book readers will find the recollections of individuals whose collective, professional contributions represent the foundation for the discipline of national reconnaissance. On 18 August 2000 the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (DNRO), Keith R. Hall, selected 46 pioneers who had made significant and lasting contributions to the discipline over the previous 40 years. The recollections in this book are stories that look beyond historical events associated with the developing days of national reconnaissance. With the Cold War, the founders and pioneers were confronting threats and uncertainties that their generation was finding frightful and initially baffling. The founders, through their scientific competence, gave confidence to national-level decision makers.