Another case of senseless government secrecy.
It would be a resonable bet to assume that the Europeans, Russians, Chinese and others know what the capabilities of our systems are, yet the people who paid for them are left in the dark. What harm could there be in releasing the full resolution pics?
This is a video image of Atlantis docked with Mir and was taken by an amateur with a 12" Meade LX200 on November 16, 1995. At the time of the exposure the docked Atlantis-Mir were 350 miles above Boston and traveling at a speed of 17,100 miles per hour. Why should it be a big secret that the military can do better?