Thor-Delta rocket, often used in the Corona/Discoverer program.
FIfty years ago on September 12, 1961 the USAF launched Discoverer 30, a spy satellite in the Corona series, into a polar orbit from Vandenberg AF Base in California. This satellite's mission was to get photographic proof of how fast the Soviet Union was building bombers and rockets, and where they were placing them.
Discoverer 30 was a very successful mission. It carried the KH-3 spy camera system. This system would eventually expose its film, and at a precisely calculated moment, would eject the film canister in a shielded pod which could survive re-entry. On September 14, the pod was ejected, and while it floated to Earth on a parachute, was snagged and recovered by a special C-130B transport designed to catch these falling satellites.
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