Spy work

A Spy Agency's Challenge: How To Sort A Million Photos A Day

...Today, the NGA, one of the nation's least-known spy agencies, is undergoing another revolution. It's working closely with private, commercial satellite companies, and this has generated an endless stream of imagery from space.

Dave Gauthier, the director of the NGA's commercial and business group, explains how governments and militaries worldwide will have to adapt their thinking in an environment of constant surveillance.

"We will all be observed every second of every day by something. And so we have to learn how to operate in the open. And it makes strategic surprise very difficult for everybody," said Gauthier.

After a briefing by Gauthier, NPR was invited inside one of the NGA's most sensitive spaces — the operations center — but only to look, not to record.

Dozens of analysts were working. Yet it was dark, and as quiet as a library. A second-floor sky box overlooked the cavernous room. All overhead lights are off. The darkness eliminates glare for analysts who pore over satellite images on their computers.