PAUL SZOLDRA
Business Insider
December 7, 2013
The National Reconnaissance Office launched a new satellite called NROL-39 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late Thursday, but it’s their mission logo that’s getting much more interest.
The logo, featuring a massive octopus straddling the earth with its tentacles above the phrase “Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach” is probably not the best choice from a public-relations standpoint, in light of the many leaks about mass government surveillance from ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
That seems to be the take from Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist and senior policy analyst for the ACLU, who tweeted to the Office of Director of National Intelligence, “You may want to downplay the massive dragnet spying thing right now. This logo isn’t helping.”
Founded in 1961 (but not actually acknowledged until 1992), the NRO designs, builds, launches, and maintains America’s spy satellites.