50 years since Gary Powers was shot down

[Star Voyager]

50 years ago today, Gary Powers was flying his U-2 at 70,000 ft. when a SA-2 SAM ripped through his empinage. He was tried and kept in the U.S.S.R. for 2 years, then released:

Thank you Capt. Powers for your service :tiphat:!

 

[Artlav]

Well, from our side it's thank you SAM.

(sorry)

 

[KosmoKen]

I read he did the CIA a great disservice by not activating the plane's self destruct and not killing himself with a cyanide capsule...

 

[Urwumpe]

I read he did the CIA a great disservice by not activating the plane's self destruct and not killing himself with a cyanide capsule...

Hello. This is the real world. Please take some time and orient yourself here. :tiphat:



There was not much plane left to be self-destructed, after the SA-2 shot it down, and self-destruct devices and cyanide capsules are only standard equipment in Hollywood movies. I don't even know a single instance where such capsules got used for suicide outside Germany.

I would say, from the available wreckage, that the Soviets had very much fun with the "secret" technology of it.

And about the suicide option:
Powers carried with him a modified silver dollar which contained a lethal, shellfish-derived saxitoxin-tipped needle, but did not use it.

 

[KosmoKen]

Take it up with Wikipedia, Urwumpe .

 

[Urwumpe]

Take it up with Wikipedia, Urwumpe .

No problem, Wikipedia is an easy target in this case. The only source for the suicide dollar is a website, which can hardly be considered a reliable source.

http://www.vectorsite.net/twgas_4.html

As you can see, he doesn't state, from where he has the information about the dollar. He doesn't even say much more than Wikipedia does.

 

[Zachstar]

Its amazing how desperate we were for info back then. As good as the U-2 was and still is in my opinion, It has no ability to evade. The flight ought to have never have been made.

 

[jinglesassy]

Information is power zachstar you cant fight a war without knowing where the enemy bases are to take them out and the picture that jump-started the apollo 8 was taken from a u-2 spy plane flying overhead photographics the n-1 rolling out to the pad we got scared we would lose the moon and rushed there

 

[Zachstar]

Actually what jump started A8 was fear of a soviet manned lunar flyby attempt. But that is besides the point.

You don't fly peacetime missions in high threat environments. And dont say they "Didn't know" The SA-2 development could not have been hidden from us that well.

 

[SiberianTiger]

I find it naturally fitting this forum and topic to advertise a simulator game allowing you to feel like at firing controls of an SA-2: http://sites.google.com/site/samsimulator1972/home

 

[Notebook]

Glad they got that sorted:

Corrects the "Divide by Zero" problem at Hanoi, at elevations above 45 degree.

N.

 

[Loru]

I've got a book from 1995 where whole U-2 history is covered:

"Sensacje XX Wieku - po II wojnie swiatowej" by Boguslaw Woloszanski.
"Sensations of XX Century - after II World War"
ISBN: 83-85852-14-X

Author says that Powers had this coin, gold watches and rings, hunter knive, pistol with silencer, 7500 rubles and a sheet made of silk with stantement:"I don't have wrong intentions for your nation. You will be rewarded if you help me" written in 14 languages.

According to this book CIA didn't order pilot to use them but suggested that it may be a way out to avoid tortures.

Also during this period in NSA there was two agents working for Soviet Union: Bernon F. Mitchell and William H. Martin.
They gave flight plan to KGB so Soviets know exactly where Powers would fly.

Also in this book there are some photos showing crashed U-2, russian expert showing the needle and photos of gary powers in russian courthouse.

 

[Urwumpe]

Information is power zachstar you cant fight a war without knowing where the enemy bases are to take them out and the picture that jump-started the apollo 8 was taken from a u-2 spy plane flying overhead photographics the n-1 rolling out to the pad we got scared we would lose the moon and rushed there

Wrong. First of all, the powers incident was in 1960 - at that time, Baikonur was the center of Soviet ICBM development, which was a much more important goal.

Next, the Apollo 8 mission got turned into a lunar flyby because of the fear that the Zond mission might be manned. There was no U-2 photograph of an N-1 rolling out, the N-1 was first photographed in early 1969 by a Corona satellite - after the Apollo 8 mission.

The U-2 was no longer used over the USSR when the SR-71 was available in 1966, and even that did often not fly over it to gather intelligence.

http://www.astronautix.com/articles/whanowit.htm