Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside (Photographic) Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis
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Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Free
In October of 1962, the world came to the brink of nuclear war over the secret installation in Cuba of Soviet missiles aimed at the heart of the United States. The chilling 13-day standoff between the United States and the USSR was defined and finally defused by aerial photography.
No one was closer to the heart of the crisis than Dino Brugioni, former senior official of the information branch of the National Photographic Interpretation Center. Brugioni and his team identified the existence of medium-range ballistic missiles in western Cuba and examined photography that gave indisputable evidence of the Soviet threat. They also prepared the aerial photography that would be necessary for bombing the missile sites.
This lecture recounts the actions of Brugioni and his team during one of the most intense moments in American history.
Seating will begin at 7:00 pm in the Airbus IMAX Theater. Visitors may tour the Museum until 7:15 pm. Parking is free after 4:00 pm.
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