How a Black-Op Helped Mankind Enter Space and Prevent WW III

Imagine the late 1950's and early 1960's. The Cold War is raging and tensions are high. The ICBM arms race is on. Schools are running drills with students huddling in basements and under their desks.

It is also a transitional time for technology. No smartphones or internet. Home phones are rotary dial only. Desktop calculators have not yet been invented, let alone battery-operated ones. The transistor radio is the current state of the art. Stereo sound is just gaining popularity.

Man has yet to reach into space - until Sputnik. All of a sudden, space becomes the new frontier, and the race is on to conquer it.

This course will tell you about one of the most top-secret projects the USA took on during this period - Project Corona. Corona was designed to put the USA ahead of the Soviets in the space race and answer one burning question: Were the Soviets telling the truth about how many ICBMs they had?

The instructor's father played a key role in Corona and found the answer to that question. The answer enabled the U.S. to avoid spending billions on unnecessary armament and to spend that money instead on social programs. It also helped the world avoid World War III.

This course will tell the story of Project Corona.

Note: While this is mainly a remote course, a limited number of students will be able to attend in-person as an experiment while we shakedown our new classroom tech at The Belfast Center. Contact the instructor at douglas.chamberlin@maine.edu if you are interested.

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Instructor:

After a 45-year career mastering computer programming and other information technology, Doug Chamberlin retired in 2016. Since then, he has immersed himself in volunteer activities, currently focusing on Senior College. He has previously taught 3 courses for Senior College and is looking forward to this one.

Photo credit: US Air Force / Wikipedia