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Crosslink

The Aerospace Cor poration magazine of advances in aerospace technology

Using military
surveillance
satellites to
detect
wildfires

January 2000
Crosslink
January 2000 Vol. 1 No. 1
Editorial Board
Harlan F. Bittner, Chairman
David A. Bearden
Donna J. Born
David J. Evans
Isaac Ghozeil
David J. Gorney
Linda F. Halle
John P. Hurrell
Mark W. Maier
John W. Murdock
Jon M. Neff
Fredric M. Pollack
Alfred N. Sorensen
E.C. “Pete” Aldridge, Jr.
Editor President and
Steven M. Beck Chief Executive Officer
Managing Editor The Aerospace Corporation
Wendy Hansen

Illustrator
John A. Hoyem

Photographer
Eric Hamburg T he Aerospace Corporation has a vision “to be the world’s leader in the ap-
plication of space technology.”To accomplish this vision we want to apply
our technical knowledge and expertise to enable our customers to suc-
cessfully exploit the full potential of space and space technology.The publication
Crosslink is a way for our customers, the public, and employees to gain insight
Crosslink is published by The Aerospace
into the types of research and development efforts being conducted by the corpo-
Corporation, an independent, nonprofit cor-
poration dedicated to providing objective ration in pursuit of our vision and our customers’ needs.
technical analyses and assessments for mili- Our premier issue of Crosslink looks at novel ways state-of-the-art space tech-
tary, civil and commercial space programs. nology, traditionally used for military purposes, is being adapted to serve civil
It operates a federally funded research and
development center for the Department of
needs, and the contributions of our Aerospace scientists to these developments.
Defense, specializing in space systems. The corporation, for example, is investigating using the Defense Support Program,
a strategic surveillance system used for many years to observe signatures of ballis-
Aerospace engages in space systems archi- tic missiles in flight, to detect natural disasters and environmental phenomena,
tecture, engineering, planning, analysis, such as fires and volcanic activity. Our scientists are also working on technology
and research, predominately for programs
managed by the Air Force and the Na- enhancement for the Global Positioning System, originally developed for military
tional Reconnaissance Office. Founded in navigation and now serving positioning devices used in popular applications, such
1960, the company has supported most of as airlines, automobiles, sporting goods, and cellular telephones. Detecting destruc-
the nation’s military and national security
tive single-event phenomena is crucial to protecting microelectronic devices used
launch vehicle and satellite programs.
in spacecraft, but it is equally important in protecting pacemakers, commercial air-
For more information about Aerospace visit craft, and the abundant microelectronic devices used in the home and workplace.
www.aero.org, or write to Aerospace is developing a new method for testing microelectronic devices for
Corporate Communications their vulnerability to such phenomena. Finally, the corporation has established a
P.O. Box 92957, M1-447
Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957.
Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies to explore, and devise mitigating
strategies for, the threats of space debris to orbiting spacecraft as well as to the
Address comments about Crosslink to Earth as debris falls from space.This will be a growing problem as more and more
Editor, Crosslink countries and companies exploit the potential of space for national and economic
The Aerospace Press, reasons.
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Copyright  2000 The Aerospace


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The Aerospace Corporation
Contents Cover
Firefighters battle the 1993 Malibu–Topanga Canyon
wildfire, one of many natural disasters tracked by
Aerospace researchers using data from DSP satellites.
Cover photo © 1993 Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Civilian Uses of
Surveillance Satellites
2
The globally deployed Defense Support Program
satellites, once used only to gather classified
military information, are now supporting
environmental monitoring and natural
disaster detection and reporting.

Atomic Clocks Meet


Laser Cooling
9
The precision atomic clocks used in space
navigation systems like the Global Positioning
System have been in use for the last four
decades. Now Aerospace scientists have
developed a novel technique to increase a
clock’s stability and accuracy while still
keeping it spaceworthy.

Lasers Simulate Space


Radiation Effects
15
A short-pulsed X-ray facility for single event
upset testing of microelectronic devices is
being built in El Segundo.This facility will
make it possible to probe devices using
laser-generated ultrafast X-rays.

New Hazards for a


New Age
20
The Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris
Studies was established to improve our
understanding of orbit decay and reentry
breakup and to develop techniques for
predicting and avoiding collisions of
satellites with oncoming objects.

Patents
24
Civilian Uses of Surveillance Satellites
Dee W. Pack, Carl J. Rice, Barbara J. Tressel,
Carolyn J. Lee-Wagner, and Edgar M. Oshika

E
Southern California’s Topanga-Malibu fire of
very 10 seconds nearly the entire
1993, biomass burning in the Southern African
Earth’s surface is scanned by Defense
savannas, volcanic eruptions and the spread of
Support Program (DSP) infrared sur-
ash clouds from Mount St. Helens in Washing-
veillance satellites looking for the telltale
ton and Columbia’s Nevado El Ruiz, and recent
signs of hostile missile launches.The Aero-
activity at the volcano Popocatapétl in Mexico.
space Corporation has been investigating the
These results are being used to assist in the de-
feasibility of using this existing capability to
velopment of the Hazard Support System, a
detect natural disasters and other related envi-
new disaster detection and mitigation program
ronmental phenomena.
recently established by the National Recon-
For the past 6 years,Aerospace researchers
naissance Office (NRO) and the United States
have pursued a systematic program to explore
Geological Survey (USGS).
the possibilities of using DSP satellites to de-
tect and study fires and volcanic activity. Case The DSP Satellite System
studies have included wildfires such as First launched in 1970, DSP satellites are the
space-based component of the nation’s missile
early-warning system.These geosynchronous
satellites observe Earth, using a spinning array
of infrared detectors that are sensitive to emis-
sions from hot point sources at or near Earth’s
surface.
DSP’s unique 10-second revisit rate is un-
precedented. In contrast, the current GOES
(Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite) weather satellite images the United
States every 15 minutes in its standard scan-
ning mode and provides a full disk image of
Earth only every 3 hours.
Polar orbiting meteorological satellites—
such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s (NOAA) Television Infrared
Observation Satellite (TIROS) and DOD’s De-
fense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)
satellites—have sensors that image midlatitude
regions only twice a day, while Landsat Earth
resource satellites can revisit a given location
only every 16 days.
The globally deployed DSP constellation
could supplement current civil agency envi-
ronmental observation systems by providing
infrared monitoring with continual, nearly full
Earth coverage. In addition, the wide dynamic
range of the DSP sensor allows the dynamic
changes of intense fires and volcanic activity
to be studied without sensor saturation.

Dee Pack, Barbara Tressel, Edgar Oshika, Carl Rice, and


Carolyn Lee-Wagner in front of a DSP downlink antenna at
Aerospace corporate offices.

2 • Crosslink January 2000


Early DSP satellite being deployed from the
Space Shuttle cargo bay. Following release
from the Shuttle, an upper-stage rocket
motor propelled the satellite to its opera-
tional geosynchronous altitude. Following
the Shuttle Challenger accident, DSP
satellites were subsequently boosted into
orbit by unmanned rockets.

detection and environmental observa-


tion.The missions associated with the
two main thrusts are timely hazard
warning and longer term monitoring
to study the scale of global fire and
volcanic activity.The former usually
involves rapid detection and identifi-
cation, while the latter employs con-
tinual synoptic DSP observations over
long periods of time.The satellite ca-
pabilities investigated fall into several
categories:
" Fire detection
" Fire monitoring, including observa-
tions of widespread biomass
burning
" Volcano eruption detection, includ-
ing lava flows and explosive erup-
tions
" Volcanic activity monitoring
" Volcanic ash cloud detection and
tracking for improved aviation
safety
NASA

Wildfire Detection
We studied the use of DSP for wildfire
Aerospace DSP Ground- development groundstation ensures
detection, both at urban-wildland in-
station for Environmental that our research has no impact on
terfaces and in more remote regions.
Monitoring primary DSP mission operations, and
The goal is to quantify the utility of
In recent years, our environmental that we are not affected by configura-
the 10-second revisit rate offered by
monitoring work was facilitated by the tion changes at the operational sites.
DSP’s geosynchronous Earth scanning
construction and operation of a DSP We successfully used DSP satellites
satellites.
groundstation at Aerospace corporate that had exceeded their operational
We established that these satellites
offices in El Segundo, California.This life and had been sent into higher, so-
possess a useful capability under dry
groundstation, known as the A8 Re- called supersynchronous, orbit.This
atmospheric conditions without sig-
search Center (named for the facility’s would not have been possible without
nificant cloud cover.These conditions
location) or ARC, emulates the DSP ar- a dedicated direct downlink facility.We
correspond to the severe fire danger
chitecture and Space Based Infrared also processed real-time data from sev-
conditions typical, for example, of the
System (SBIRS) technology path. eral other satellite programs (GOES,
“Santa Ana” weather phenomenon
ARC, which integrates commercial, TIROS, DMSP) and carried out sensor
that occurs during the Southern
government, and Aerospace-developed performance comparisons and real-
California fire season. Santa Ana winds
hardware and software, was assembled time data overlay studies. Our main
are the dry hot winds that often
at relatively low cost. It is well-suited focus, however, has been testing the
accompany a high pressure system
to data processing and fusion, algo- scientific and civil mission utility of
over the Great Basin in the Western
rithm development, and proof-of- DSP.
United States.
concept demonstrations for both Our investigation of the applica-
A case study of such a fire was the
military and civil applications.The use tion of DSP infrared remote-sensing
observation of the Topanga-Malibu fire
of a stand-alone research and capabilities to Earth observation has
of 1993. During late October through
had two main thrusts: natural hazard
Crosslink January 2000 • 3
early November 1993, more than 21 Aerospace
major wildfires burned over 200,000 researchers have
acres in Southern California.At the determined that DSP
height of the activity, more than satellites can detect
wildfires soon after
10,000 firefighters were deployed.The
they break out. In
fires caused four deaths and more
remote areas where
than 150 injuries, destroyed more “911” is not avail-
than 1,200 structures, and caused over able, this early de-
a billion dollars in property damage. tection capability
Six southern California counties can aid in the rapid
were declared disaster areas.Approxi- deployment of fire-
mately half of the fires are believed to fighters to the scene.
have been caused by arson.The fires
started during two main periods, Oc-
tober 26–27 and November 2, during
Santa Ana conditions characterized by
low humidity, high temperatures, and
dry, gusty, northeasterly winds.
To quantify the potential utility of
DSP, we first needed to determine
how quickly the fires became visible,
U. S. Forest Service
so the days on which the fires started
were our highest priority. It was also
important to identify those character-
istics of the signals that could be used
to develop automated or semiauto-
mated detection and identification
procedures. In addition, it was of in- Infrared data points showing a fire department. But in more remote areas
terest to track the growth of the fires in this location first appear on a DSP where 911 is not available, DSP’s ca-
as they spread and to create as com- space sensor return at 10:48.Automated pability for rapid automated fire de-
plete a record as possible. detection is triggered by the continu- tection makes a strong case for its
To determine how rapidly individ- ous presence of hot cells within the use.
ual fires became detectable, we fire area and could have occurred as The data recorded by DSP of the
examined the DSP data for the geo- early as 10:50 a.m. Topanga-Malibu blaze provide a full
graphical areas around the individual Analysis of DSP data for numerous record of space-based infrared inten-
fires before and after their start.The fall 1993 fires shows that the first de- sity observations of a brush fire as it
Topanga-Malibu fire was reported to tectable infrared signals were de- evolved into a firestorm.To our
911 operators at 10:45:10 a.m.As tected from 0 to 14 minutes after the knowledge no comparable continu-
with all 911 calls in Los Angeles 911 call reporting a fire had been re- ous observations of a severe wildfire’s
County, the call and the time were au- ceived, with automated detection lag- radiant intensity growth have ever
tomatically recorded.This fire started ging ground reports by 3–15 minutes. been recorded by other space- or
within sight of a number of homes In densely populated areas such as aircraft-based platforms.This illus-
and is believed by arson investigators Los Angeles County, where such fires trates the unique capability of a geo-
to have been reported almost imme- can occur terrifyingly often and peo- synchronous space platform to
diately. ple are alert to their danger, the 911 provide global coverage for disaster
system serves as a lifeline to the fire monitoring and characterization.

GMT = 2:17 GMT = 6:58


Images of infrared intensity recorded on July 3, 0 0
1992, during the course of a 24-hour cycle of
5 5
burning across the whole of Southern Africa.
Time is given in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). 10 10
Numbers on axes refer to degrees of latitude
15 15
and longitude.
20 20
25 25
16x104 30 30
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 35 35
10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50

4 • Crosslink January 2000


“This fire is headed to the coast!” Radio message
received by Los Angeles Fire Department officials from firefighters
battling the Topanga-Malibu blaze on November 2, 1993.

Several features are apparent in the intensity vs. time plot for the Topanga-Malibu
fire that, based on our subsequent experience, appear to be typical of the signa-
ture of such wildland and urban/wildland interface fires. First, a plateau of linear
911 Report time 10:45:10 intensity growth occurs following the start of the fire. Then a rapid exponential in-
from L.A. Fire Dept. crease in intensity occurs due to a sudden increase in temperature and fire area.
Space sensor This transition to exponential intensity growth corresponds to the point at which
auto-detection 10:50 the fire erupts suddenly into a firestorm. It was at this point that firefighters re-
Intensity

ported 30- to 40-foot flames raging in an area of chaparral that had not burned
since 1926. The grim assessment: “This fire is headed to the coast,” was radioed
to officials.
A prominent intensity dip occurs later in the data. Such intensity changes are also
typical of these severe fires. The dip could be due either to obscuration by smoke
or to a temporary fuel shortage caused by the burning out of one topographical
area before the fire’s wind-blown spread to another unburned region—for exam-
ple, when cresting a hill. The latter explanation is believed to be more likely in
this particular case. The early plateau, rapid rise, and the up-and-down intensity
10:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 12:00 12:15 12:30
structure are characteristic of all the serious brush fires studied.
Pacific Daylight Time
First space sensor return 10:48

Since the fires of 1993, extensive grasslands are deliberately burned by and August.This peak activity corre-
additional fire detection testing in- the populace for forage improvement sponds to the dry seasons of these
volving DSP and civil satellite systems or other agricultural purposes, such as two regions.While the polar orbiting
has been carried out by USGS, NOAA, clearing land. Recent studies using satellites can map out regional fire ac-
U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land polar orbiting satellites have suggested tivity and discern seasonal patterns,
Management, state of Georgia, County that global biomass burning, and they are unable to monitor the diur-
of Los Angeles, and university and activity in the African savannas in par- nal (day/night) cycle of fire since they
industry participants.These tests in- ticular, is much more widespread than pass overhead only twice a day and
volved both prescribed fires and blind previously realized, and hence a more measure only a strip of Earth’s sur-
tests of the system’s capability to de- significant contributor to global face. DSP’s fast revisit rate and nearly
tect naturally occurring fires. greenhouse gas emissions. complete continual hemispheric view
Biomass Burning in Africa DSP has observed seasonal fire ac- were used to unique advantage to re-
Global biomass burning is a signifi- tivity in Africa similar in nature to that veal this diurnal cycle of continental-
cant contributor to the emission of observed by the infrared sensors on scale burning.
greenhouse gases such as carbon the polar orbiting TIROS and DMSP To study diurnal variation in fire
dioxide that may have an impact on satellites.The northern savannas show intensity, sensor noise was first sup-
Earth’s climate. In the African savan- peak activity during January and Feb- pressed through intensity threshold-
nas, significant burning occurs every ruary, while the southern savannas ing.The noise-reduced data were then
year during the dry seasons.The exhibit peak fire activity during July binned in equal area grids and the

GMT = 8:58 GMT = 10:58 GMT = 13:00


0 0 0
5 5 5
10 10 10
15 15 15
20 20 20
25 25 25
30 30 30
35 35 35
10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50

Crosslink January 2000 • 5


The total integrated radiant intensity across the whole of the southern African savannas
Total summed
intensity can be plotted as a function of time, yielding the complete diurnal cycle of biomass
Sensor 1 burning. To create these curves, data for a given sampling time was summed across the
Total summed intensity

Sensor 2 full swath of the African continent for the region from 5 degrees South to 20 degrees
South (note that this excludes the burn activity in South Africa and the island of Mada-
gascar). The total observed infrared intensity changes by a factor of approximately
2500 over the course of the day. This is the first time this behavior has been accurately
measured over the African continent, though such a variation has been hypothesized.
The results show a diurnal variation of Gaussian appearance. This daily rise and fall in
fire activity is believed to be caused by two factors: (1) human fire activity and work
patterns, and (2) increasing air temperature and wind activity in the midafternoon,
which lead to more intense burning. Differences between the two sensors reflect differ-
ent effective thresholds; the basic shape of the curve is the same for both.
0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Greenwich Mean Time (hours)

intensities of active cells within each A New Tool for activity, and the rapid detection and
grid were summed for a 3-minute pe- Volcanologists tracking of the Mount St. Helens ash
riod (18 scans) every half hour for a Volcanic activity observed by DSP cloud.
24-hour cycle. sensors has included explosive erup- Space-based observations of explo-
The images of infrared intensity tions, ash emission and ash cloud sive volcanic activity offer an oppor-
shown at the bottom of pages 4–6 drift, and caldera and lava flow tunity to improve global monitoring
were recorded on July 3, 1992, during activity.These data demonstrate the of dangerous volcanoes. DSP sensors
the course of a 24-hour cycle of burn- possibility of exploiting DSP satellites offer another tool to augment seismic
ing activity across the whole of South- to improve eruption detection, to im- and other monitoring methods.
ern Africa. Initially the central grasslands prove global volcano monitoring, and Recently, our research has focused
are quiescent, but as the day pro- to augment civil system capabilities on the well-instrumented volcano
gresses quite widespread infrared for ash cloud detection and tracking. Popocatapétl, which is 5452 meters
emissions become evident.These This last application is important high and only 60 kilometers southeast
peak in the afternoon (approximately since volcanic ash clouds pose a haz- of Mexico City. Because of the vol-
2 p.m. local time) and fall off dis- ard to aviation traffic. cano’s proximity to population cen-
tinctly as the day ends. Currently only 10 percent of ters, the Mexican government’s
The spatial distribution of fire ac- Earth’s active volcanoes are well Centro Nacional de Prevención de
tivity in the peak burning periods monitored.Thus the fast sampling in- Desastres (CENAPRED) has imple-
shows close agreement with results frared measurements taken by DSP mented a vigilant warning program to
from polar orbiting satellites. In par- surveillance satellites provide an ex- inform the nearby citizens of volcano
ticular the curved boundary of fire citing new volcanology tool. Such danger levels and threat status.The
activity northeast of Angola (approxi- measurements have been used for volcano also poses an ash cloud
mately 7.5 degrees South, 22 degrees the detection of an explosive erup- threat to local aviation, so ash warn-
East) is noticeable.This marks the tion at the Colombian volcano ings are issued both by Mexican offi-
northern edge of areas with extensive Nevado El Ruiz, continual monitoring cials and NOAA.
grassland burning. of Mexican volcano Popocatapétl dur- Among the sensors are remote
ing a period of moderate eruptive video cameras, tilt meters,

GMT = 15:00 GMT = 17:08 GMT = 20:08


0 0 0
5 5 5
10 10 10
15 15 15
20 20 20
25 25 25
30 30 30
35 35 35
10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50 10 20 30 40 50

6 • Crosslink January 2000


The Colombian volcano Nevado El Ruiz erupted explosively at night under
heavy cloud cover on November 13, 1985. The eruption melted an esti-
mated 10% of the volcano’s ice cap. Subsequent lahars (mud and ash
Relative intensity

flows) killed an estimated 25,000 people 21⁄2 hours later when the town of
Armero 74 kilometers away was inundated. Data saved by Aerojet Corpo-
ration analyst Charlotte Decker yielded dual satellite observations when ex-
amined later. These space observations are in close agreement with
ground observer reports and arguably provide the most accurate initiation
Sensor 1 time of the eruption.
02:09 GMT Sensor 2
Sensor 3
0 50 100 150
Time (seconds)

seismometers, and lahar (mud and ash seismic data) for predicting serious that DSP provides to current ash
flows) detection devices. Continual eruptions. cloud detection capabilities is the
monitoring of the volcano’s infrared DSP observations of the eruption timely initial observation and tracking
activity from DSP satellites started De- of Mount St. Helens have been re- of daylit eruptive ash clouds.
cember 2, 1998.The process of com- ported in the scientific literature. Outlook
paring our measurements with DSP’s rapid revisit capabilities en- DSP satellites provide a powerful in-
CENAPRED data has begun, initially abled researchers to identify multiple frared remote sensing resource for de-
using data available on the Internet. explosions within the initial eruption tecting and monitoring global fire and
Comparison of DSP remote sensing event, as well as to trace the rapid ex- volcanic activity.Their unique capabil-
data with ground observations of pansion of the ground cloud that ity for rapid continual sampling, the
Popocatapétl is being pursued to test overwhelmed the area north of the full Earth coverage, and the global de-
system capabilities for continual mon- volcano. ployment of DSP sensors can comple-
itoring of active volcanoes. Interesting Continual monitoring of the high ment the capabilities of civil satellite
possibilities are indexing eruption altitude Plinean eruption column per- systems.
intensity from the calibrated infrared mitted a detailed evaluation of propa- Our research has demonstrated sig-
data, gathering explosion activity sta- gation of the massive ash cloud that nificant potential both for rapid detec-
tistics, and examining the utility of resulted, including delineation of mul- tion of infrared emissions associated
these data (in combination with tiple plumes.The additional capability with various events such as fires and
Relative intensity

18:07

0:00 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 24:00


Greenwich Mean Time
Video image courtesy of Universidad Autonama de Mexico
A 24-hour period of moderate volcanic activity at Popocatapétl, Mexico. Repeated short infrared transient signals are periodically observed.
These are believed to be moderate volcanic explosions that spew out incandescent rock, steam, hot gases and ash. During daylight hours these
transient signals from hot gas and ejecta are also accompanied by longer-lasting lower intensity signals from solar scattering off the lofted ash
cloud. The image at left shows a view of the summit taken by CENAPRED’s remote video camera 7 minutes after the 18:07 eruption.

Crosslink January 2000 • 7


Tracking the rapid growth of the eruptive ash
5
cloud during the first 40 minutes of the May 18, 0 20 40
8
1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. Vectors km Wind Direction
47° 20 km
show the velocity of winds aloft at three altitudes.
The region in red shows the extent of blast de-
posits. (From R.S.J. Sparks, J.G. Moore and C.J.
Rice, “The Initial Giant Umbrella Cloud of the
May 18th, 1980 Explosive Eruption of Mount St. 16:10
Helens,” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal
16.10
Research, Vol. 28, page 257, 1986) 16:05

16:00
volcanic eruptions as well as longer 15:55
time scale infrared monitoring for
scientific research purposes. Explor- 15:50
ing the scientific and disaster warning 15:40 15:45
utility of this type of timely, fast-
sampling, wide dynamic range in-
frared sensor is also useful for
46°
assessing possible applications of
new-generation military sensors such
as SBIRS or proposed sophisticated
future civil systems. 122° 121°

Dee W. Pack, Remote Sensing Department, leads research on the civil and
scientific applications of DSP satellites. Pack joined Aerospace in 1989 and
Further Reading
has since worked in several different fields of applied and basic remote sens-
ing research, including recent work in support of the USGS and NRO Haz-
D. R. Cahoon, Jr., B. J. Stocks, ard Support System. His academic degrees are in physical chemistry. He
J. S. Levine,W. R. Cofer III, and K. P. received a B.S. from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. from Princeton Univer-
O’Neill.“Seasonal Distribution of sity, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University prior to
African Savanna Fires.” Nature, joining Aerospace. e-mail: Dee.W.Pack@aero.org
Vol. 359, pages 812–814, 1992. Carl J. Rice directs the Remote Sensing Department, which supports a num-
D.A. Day,“Origins and Evolution of ber of DOD and NASA programs. Rice joined Aerospace in 1969. His fields
the Defense Support Program, of specialization include remote sensing of infrared emissions from the Earth,
Parts 1–3.” Spaceflight, Vol. 38, the atmosphere, and various other phenomena, and in situ measurements of
pages 22–26, 59–63, 95–99, 1996. the upper atmosphere and ionosphere and precipitating energetic particles.
D. G. Herd,“The 1985 Ruiz Volcano He received an A.B. in physics from the University of Utah and a Ph.D. in
Disaster.” EOS, Vol. 67, pages physics from the California Institute of Technology. e-mail: Carl.J.Rice@aero.org
457–460, 1986. Barbara J. Tressel, Space Systems Evaluation Department, is responsible
for the development and operations of ARC, one of the corporation’s re-
J. G. Moore, and C. J. Rice.“Chronol-
search centers. Tressel holds a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering
ogy and Character of Mt. St. Helens
Explosive Eruptive Phase of May from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.S. in electrical
18, 1980.” Explosive Volcanism. In- engineering from the University of Southern California.
ception, Evolution, and Hazards, e-mail: Barbara.J.Tressel@aero.org
National Academy Press,Washing- Carolyn Lee-Wagner, Space Systems Evaluation Department, is currently
ton, D.C., pages 133–142, 1984. responsible for software design and development for several space system ar-
R. S. J. Sparks, J. G. Moore, and chitecture planning tools, as well as for ARC. Lee-Wagner joined the corpora-
C. J. Rice,“The Initial Giant tion in 1983. She holds a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Toledo.
Umbrella Cloud of the May 18th, e-mail: Carolyn.J.Lee-Wagner@aero.org
1980, Explosive Eruption of Mount Edgar M. Oshika is a senior engineer in the Space Based Surveillance Di-
St. Helens,” Journal of Volcanology vision and has been at Aerospace since 1980. He previously directed the in-
and Geothermal Research, Vol.28, tegration of space and ground communications for SBIRS and DSP. While at
pages 257–274, 1986.
the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Oshika wrote the Lunar Module Backup
autopilot software used in the Apollo 13 mission. He received a B.S. in me-
chanical engineering from Wayne State University and an M.S. in
information and control engineering from the University of Michigan.
e-mail: Edgar.M.Oshika@aero.org

8 • Crosslink January 2000


Atomic Clocks Meet Laser Cooling
Walter F. Buell and Bernardo Jaduszliwer

T
proposed laser-cooled atomic clocks for space
he Stealth bomber pilot flying under
application.Aerospace estimates a factor of
combat conditions as well as the week-
100 improvement over the frequency stability
end boater out for a sail can make use
of current space-qualified atomic beam
of the same technology—the Global Position-
clocks.
ing System, or GPS, which provides three-
GPS is not the only space system to carry
dimensional positioning and navigation data.
atomic clocks on board. Glonass, the Russian
Once the province only of the military, civilian
navigation satellite system, is equipped in a
GPS receivers are now sold in sporting goods
similar manner. Communication satellite sys-
stores, offered as standard equipment on new
tems such as Milstar require the robust time-
cars, and packaged with cellular phones in
keeping capabilities of atomic clocks in order
consumer safety products.
to provide secure communications.As the
Atomic Clocks in Space Systems competition for radio frequency bandwidth
GPS consists of 24 satellites that orbit the heats up, other communication systems, com-
Earth every 12 hours.The satellites send en- mercial as well as military, may have to rely on
coded radio signals that the GPS receiver uses atomic clocks to provide accurate frequency
to compute position.At the heart of GPS are and time onboard spacecraft. Currently the
the atomic clocks that provide the highly accu- highest performance requirements on space-
rate time signals required for positioning. craft clocks are placed by space navigation
Atomic clocks are the most precise instru- systems such as GPS, where an error of one-
ments modern technology can provide. thousandth of a second in spacecraft time
In fact, the current trend in defining new translates into a 200-mile error in user range
physical standards is using a time interval measurement.
measurement whenever possible. For example,
the standard unit of length, the meter, is no
longer defined by reference to a metal rod
kept in a vault, but rather by the defined speed
of light and an atomic clock second.Today, the
nation’s primary atomic time and frequency
standard is the NIST-7 cesium beam clock at
the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology in Boulder, Colorado.
The Aerospace Corporation was an integral
part of the team that created GPS and has
been involved in atomic clock development
for the last two decades. Scientists at Aero-
space recently designed a laser-cooled atomic
clock, specifically intended for space applica-
tions.The Aerospace atomic clock is compact,
robust, requires relatively low power, and
avoids problems associated with other

Bernardo Jaduszliwer and Walter Buell in the


Aerospace Atomic Clocks Laboratory.

Crosslink January 2000 • 9


The first cesium atomic beam clock as
portrayed by Ripley’s “Believe It or Not”
in September 1953.

A Brief History of
Atomic Beam Clocks
The development of atomic clock
technology as such started during the
1950s, following ideas presented by
Isidor Rabi in a 1945 public lecture. It
was enabled by investigations in fun-
damental physics carried out during
the first half of the century.The dis-
covery of the electron spin, measure-
ments of nuclear spins and magnetic
moments, and the puzzle of the mag- © 1999 Ripley Entertainment Inc.
netic moment of the proton were
some of the research topics providing years, Rip Van Winkle-like, to wake up from Galileo’s use of his own pulse
scientific insights and the practical in front of a modern commercial when studying the motion of falling
tool kit that eventually would be used atomic clock? He would be surprised objects to atomic microwave transi-
in designing and building cesium by its small size and excited about its tions in modern atomic clocks.
atomic beam clocks. performance and reliability, but he In modern atomic clocks the
Louis Essen and J.V. L. Parry at the would not have much difficulty recog- “atomic system” provides a very sharp
National Physics Laboratory in Great nizing each of the components of the frequency reference that is used to
Britain, and Harold Lyons and cowork- physics package and understanding stabilize the frequency of a local
ers at the National Bureau of Stan- its role and operation.The changes be- oscillator (usually a very high-quality
dards (NBS) in the United States, tween the physics package of the voltage-controlled quartz crystal oscil-
demonstrated the first laboratory ce- Atomichron and that of a GPS clock lator, or VCXO).The frequency refer-
sium beam frequency standards in the have been evolutionary in nature, and ence is, in most cases, a hyperfine
mid-1950s.This work eventually led to our sleepy scientist would find nei- transition in atoms having a single va-
the redefinition of the Standard Inter- ther new atomic physics nor unrecog- lence electron, such as hydrogen or
national Second (SI second) in terms nizable “tricks of the trade.” the alkali metals.To provide the high-
of the cesium hyperfine transition fre- However, if he were to wake up 10 est accuracy, the physics package of
quency, as measured by a cesium years from now, the situation might an atomic clock is designed so as to:
atomic beam clock. be very different. Once again, funda- " Allow the microwave interrogation
In the meantime, Jerrold Zacharias, mental developments in physics over of atoms as isolated as possible
who had provided inspiration and the last 15 years have provided us from each other and from any
technical advice for the NBS work, with the scientific understanding and external perturbation
also led the National Company’s effort the tool kit required to develop novel " Provide a frequency reference hav-
to produce the first commercial atomic clocks that have 2- to 3-orders ing as small a frequency uncer-
atomic clock, the Atomichron, un- of magnitude better performance tainty as possible (that is, a high
veiled in 1956.This device, the direct than current ones.The enabling tech- line Q). Ultimately, this requires
ancestor of the cesium beam clocks nology in this case is that of cooling long interrogation times
flown onboard today’s GPS satellites, and trapping atoms by optical tech- " Provide the highest possible signal-
had a frequency accuracy better than niques, and our sleepy scientist might to-noise ratio in the clock signal.
one part in 1010.Today’s metrology have some difficulty understanding This requires interrogating large
cesium clocks measure frequency how they operate. numbers of atoms
with an accuracy of 2–3 parts in What is an Atomic Clock? The feedback loop that provides
1014; this corresponds to an uncer- Every clock consists of a periodic the frequency lock was developed
tainty of 2 nanoseconds per day or 1 signal source and a counter.The per- during World War II for automatic fre-
second in 1,400,000 years. formance of the clock is determined quency control of microwave oscilla-
What would happen if one of the by the frequency stability of the peri- tors used in radar, and was first used
original scientists working on the odic signal.The source of that periodic to frequency-lock the Atomichron.
Atomichron had gone to sleep for 40 signal has changed over the centuries,

10 • Crosslink January 2000


Nobel Prizes awarded for work
later applied to atomic clocks
1902—Lorentz and Zeeman: for Zeeman effect
1907—Michelson: for speed of light measurements
1922—Bohr: for “old” quantum mechanics
1932—Heisenberg: for matrix quantum mechanics
1933—Dirac and Schroedinger: for quantum mechanics
1943—Stern: for atomic beam method
1944—Rabi: for resonance method
1952—Bloch and Purcell: for magnetic resonance
1964—Townes, Basov, and Prokhorov: for lasers and masers
1966—Kastler: for optical pumping
1981—Bloembergen and Schawlow: for laser spectroscopy
1989—Ramsey: for Ramsey method; Dehmelt and Paul: for ion traps
1997—Phillips, Cohen-Tannoudji, and Chu: for laser cooling and trapping

Laser-Cooled Atomic Clocks 1953. He proposed directing a ther- This technique of laser slowing of
In the late 1940s Norman Ramsey in- mal atomic beam vertically to form a atomic beams is very useful for many
troduced a novel microwave cavity de- “fountain,” using the slowest atoms in applications, but is not so well suited
sign enabling very high resolution the beam as they turn around and fall to atomic clocks, especially those
atomic beam microwave spec- under the influence of gravity. In such compact ones intended for use in
troscopy. Large cesium beam clocks in- an atomic fountain, interaction times space.The reason lies in the small
corporating Ramsey-type cavities of up to 1 second would be possible. atom velocity loss from each photon-
dominated the field of accurate atomic Zacharias’s vision was not realized scattering event.Well over a meter is
frequency standards for metrology lab- at the time, however, because the frac- required to slow a beam of atoms
oratories until the mid-1990s, and tion of sufficiently slow atoms in the from a cesium oven, making for an
compact versions of those clocks are beam was too small.The atomic foun- unacceptably long beam tube.Worse
still the devices of choice as accurate tain had to wait more than 3 decades still, during the slowing process the
time and frequency standards for in- for the techniques of laser cooling to
dustrial, military, and space applica- be developed, but today atomic foun- νL – ∆ν(t)
tions. tain clocks are the most stable and
The performance achieved by accurate in the world.
these clocks reflects many evolution- Laser cooling is the process of
ary design and construction improve- slowing atoms by means of optical
ments, and they are very close to forces. For a simple picture of how
optimal for that type of clock technol- light can slow atoms, consider an
ogy. However, laser-based optical tech- atom moving with velocity v and a νL νL
niques can be used to further laser beam directed at the atom in the
improve the performance of cesium opposite direction. If the laser is
beam clocks in two different ways. tuned near the resonance frequency
Laser optical pumping allows interro- of the atom, the atom will absorb a
gation of essentially all the atoms in photon from the laser beam and ex-
the beam, instead of a few percent as perience a momentum kick, since
is the case in conventional cesium photons carry momentum, slowing it
beam clocks; this results in a much down a bit (about 3.5 millimeters per νL νL
second for a cesium atom). Before the
improved signal-to-noise ratio. Laser νL + ∆ν(t)
cooling allows increasing the length atom can absorb another photon, it
of time the atoms interact with the must spontaneously radiate the pho- An atomic fountain. Laser-cooled atoms in opti-
microwave field, thereby reducing the ton it has already absorbed, and it may cal molasses are launched vertically by off-
frequency uncertainty of the clock do this in any random direction.After setting the frequency of the molasses laser
signal. many such absorption-emission beams. The atoms are decelerated under the in-
Zacharias proposed the use of slow events (about 90,000 for cesium fluence of gravity, turn around, and fall back
atomic beams for an atomic clock in atoms from an oven), the atoms slow through the system.
to a crawl.

Crosslink January 2000 • 11


How a cesium beam atomic clock works

A cesium clock operates by expos-


ing cesium atoms to microwaves
at one of their transition frequencies
9.192 631 770 gigahertz

Ramsey cavity Detector


and then counting the correspon- Cs Ibeam
oven
ding cycles as a measure of time.
The frequency involved is deter- Hot
A-magnet C-field B-magnet wire
mined by the energy of the incident #6
microwave photons when they ex-
The cesium beam tube is a self-contained device that performs all the tasks required for continuous,
cite hyperfine transitions in the
extended operation of the clock. The length of a cesium beam tube may vary from about 30 cen-
atom. An atom exists in certain dis- timeters for a compact unit to several meters for primary frequency standards used in metrology
crete energy states determined by laboratories.
the electromagnetic interactions be-
tween its electrons and nucleus. charged particle detector. Between match the atomic resonance, atoms in
Transitions at many different ener- the oven and the detector, the atoms the Ramsey cavity, and in the proper
gies are possible; those discussed pass through two magnets and a de- magnetic state, are able to absorb
here occur at very low energy and vice called a Ramsey cavity, named the microwave energy and undergo a
refer to changes in the magnetic in- for physicist Norman Ramsey, who in- transition that flips the polarity in such
teraction between electron and nu- troduced the device in the late a way that the atoms are deflected
clear spins (hyperfine interaction) in 1940s. The two magnets, A and B, by the B-magnetic field toward the
the atomic ground state. produce two strong, highly inhomoge- hot wire, where they are detected.
Cesium was selected as the best neous magnetic fields (tens of thou- Detection of atoms is a signal that
candidate “working atom” for an sands of Gauss per centimeter the correct microwave frequency is
atomic beam clock for a number of gradients). being delivered to the cavity, thus al-
reasons. As the cesium atoms effuse from the lowing locking of that “clock” fre-
" The quality of an atomic transi- oven, they are equally likely to be in quency to the atomic transition
tion as a frequency reference is one of 16 different quantum magnetic frequency. This locking of the mi-
given by its line quality factor, Q. states. Half of these 16 magnetic crowave frequency to the atomic tran-
Cesium has the highest ground states have a negative polarity and sition frequency is the heart of the
state hyperfine transition fre- half a positive polarity with respect to extreme stability of the atomic clock.
quency among the stable alkali an external magnetic field.
atoms, which helps in obtaining Atoms in a “+” polarity state are
a high line Q. deflected toward the beam tube axis
" There is only one stable isotope by the A-magnetic field, allowing the
0.75
of cesium, 133Cs, which avoids atoms to pass through the Ramsey
the complications associated with cavity. Atoms in a “−” state are de-
either isotope separation or the flected in the opposite direction by
use of a mixture of different the same magnetic field, away from 0.50
isotopes. the beam tube axis, and therefore
Ibeam

" Cesium has the lowest melting blocked from entering the Ramsey
point and the highest vapor pres- cavity. 0.25
sure of all the alkalis, and thus The B-magnetic field is set to
the atomic beam source can be exactly oppose the action of the A-
operated at lower temperature. magnetic field. Atoms deflected by
The cesium atomic beam source, the A-magnetic field into the B- 0
–50 –25 0 25 50
which resides inside a vacuum, is magnetic field are now deflected in
an oven with a small exit hole, the opposite direction, away from the (ν–ν0)T
heated to about 90°C. A ribbon of hot-wire detector.
cesium atoms emerges from the As long as no other outside influ-
Atomic beam current (Ibeam) from which the
oven, forming the atomic beam. The ences act, all the atoms would be de-
clock signal is derived depends upon the dif-
atoms are detected at the other end flected and none would be detected ference between the applied microwaves and
of the beam tube when they hit a at the other end. However, mi- the atomic transition frequency (ν-ν0). The
hot wire that strips their single va- crowaves at (or near) the clock central oscillations are characteristic of
lence electron, imparting a positive atomic transition frequency of Ramsey-type cavities, and provide a very
charge. The positively charged 9.192631770 gigahertz are injected sharp central peak that is used as the fre-
atoms are then accelerated in an into the Ramsey cavity. When the mi- quency reference to which the clock VCXO is
electric field and detected by a crowave frequency is tuned to exactly locked.

12 • Crosslink January 2000


In modern atomic clocks the VCXO is frequency-
Atomic locked to an atomic microwave resonance of
Resonance center frequency νA and width ∆ν. In order to de-
Atomic Phase-
sensitive tect the atomic system signal, the populations of
system
detector the two atomic energy levels connected by the
∆E ∆ν transition must be unequal.

Frequency Phase
Q = νA/∆ν νA = ∆E/h synthesizer modulation
with a stability of 2 × 10−13/√τ, where
τ is time in seconds. Similar metrology
11 12 1
fountain clocks are under develop-
10 2 ment at the National Institute of Stan-
9 3 VCXO dards and Technology (NIST) and the
8 4 U.S. Naval Observatory.
7 6 5 In fountain-type clocks, a “ball” of
Counter Frequency generator
atoms is cooled in three-dimensional
molasses and launched upward.The
ball of cold atoms passes through a
atoms actually gain momentum in the through molasses.” Using this tech- microwave cavity twice, on its way up
transverse direction because of the nique, atoms can be cooled to within and on its way down.As the ball of
emission of roughly 90,000 sponta- a few millionths of a degree above ab- atoms falls below the microwave cav-
neous photons in random directions. solute zero. ity, the number of atoms that changed
This means that a great many atoms By offsetting in opposite ways the state is measured by optical means to
are lost before reaching the end of frequencies of one pair of counter- generate the equivalent of the beam
the atomic clock, degrading clock per- propagating laser beams, the atoms signal in conventional cesium beam
formance. see the molasses in a frame of refer- clocks.Then the next ball of atoms is
The solution is to cool the atoms ence moving along that direction (be- cooled and trapped, and the process
in three dimensions simultaneously, cause of the Doppler shift), and are starts anew.
using a technique known as “optical carried along with it. In this way, Alas, the fountain idea as such can-
molasses,” in which counter-propagat- atoms slowed in optical molasses can not be used for space applications,
ing laser beams provide a force op- be launched in any desired direction. since the whole clock is in free fall
posing the motion of the atoms and This is how modern atomic fountains and gravitational forces are too small
proportional to the atomic velocity. work. to turn the atoms around to pass
With three counter-propagating pairs The first atomic fountain was built through the microwave cavity a sec-
of laser beams oriented along three by Steve Chu at Stanford University. ond time. Nevertheless, a French con-
orthogonal directions, an atom at Today the world’s most stable and ac- sortium of academic and government
their intersection experiences a slow- curate clock is a cesium atomic foun- laboratories is building a metrology
ing force regardless of its direction of tain at the Laboratoire Primaire du space atomic clock (known as
motion, as if it were “swimming Temps et des Fréquences in Paris, PHARAO, after its French acronym)

The Aerospace design for an optically pumped


Deflection space clock using laser-cooled cesium atoms. A
Cooling and transverse Photodetector continuous cold atomic beam is extracted from a
beam cooling beam
magneto-optic trap (MOT) through a hole in a
Microwave hollow conical mirror. The cold beam is then
cavity optically collimated (to improve the signal-to-noise
ratio) and deflected (to reduce light shifts from MOT
light) before passing through a Ramsey cavity.
MOT

Retro-reflecting
optics

Cold atom beam

Detection
beam

Crosslink January 2000 • 13


using the techniques developed for laser, its reflection and polarization by clock accuracy. In order to minimize
the fountain clock in a Ramsey-type the conical mirror, and the inhomoge- this problem, the atomic beam is de-
configuration.This clock is expected neous magnetic field provide just the flected in one-dimensional optical mo-
to fly in the International Space Sta- right configuration to produce a MOT lasses, allowing the Ramsey cavity to
tion to perform fundamental physics with simultaneous cooling and con- be offset away from the offending
experiments in a microgravity envi- finement of the atoms. light.
ronment.A similar device is under At the apex of the cone is a small This design is significantly simpler
construction at NIST and JPL (NASA hole. Since in the “shadow” of this than others because the cold atom
Jet Propulsion Laboratory). hole the retroflected laser beam is beam is produced by a single laser. It
The Aerospace missing, the atoms are pushed by the is compact, mechanically robust, and
Cold Atom Clock incident laser, which ejects them from requires relatively low power, making
One drawback to these proposals for the MOT through the hole.This low it well suited for space applications.
laser-cooled atomic clocks for space velocity, intense source produces a Based on our calculations of achiev-
applications is the pulsed nature of cold continuous atomic beam, which able atomic beam velocity and flux,
their atomic beam, and hence of the is then used in a Ramsey-type atomic we estimate that our clock will pro-
frequency measurement process. Dur- beam clock. vide a one-hundred-fold improvement
ing the interval between measure- Light from the MOT laser beam en- over the frequency stability of current
ments the frequency of the local tering the Ramsey cavity would per- space-qualified atomic beam clocks.
oscillator of the clock may wander turb the interaction between atoms
slightly.This slight error on a short and microwaves, and thus impair the
time scale can be converted by the
clock’s frequency-lock feedback loop
to degraded clock performance over Further Reading
medium and long time scales. W. F. Buell,“Laser-Pumped and Laser- Understanding Time and
This degradation is known as the Cooled Atomic Clocks for Space Appli- Frequency. NBS Monograph 155, U.S.
Dick effect, and places very stringent cations.” Laser and Particle Beams, Dept. of Commerce,Washington,
requirements on the local oscillator’s Vol. 16, No. 4, pages 627–639, 1998; D.C., 1977.
frequency stability. Because of that, also ATR-98(8412)-1,The Aerospace F. G. Major, The Quantum Beat—The
fountain clocks and proposed metrol- Corp., El Segundo, CA (1998) Physical Principles of Atomic Clocks.
ogy space clocks such as PHARAO C. N. Cohen-Tannoudji, and W. D. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1998.
use hydrogen masers as local oscilla- Phillips.“New Mechanisms for Laser H. J. Metcalf, and P. van der Straten.
tors. However, that is not a practical Cooling.” Physics Today, pages 33–40, “Cooling and Trapping of Neutral
October 1990. Atoms.” Physics Reports, Vol. 244 Nos.
solution for clocks needed for systems
such as GPS. J. Jespersen, and J. Fitz-Randolph. From 4, 5, pages 203–286, 1994.
At Aerospace we have designed a Sundials to Atomic Clocks—
laser-cooled atomic clock well-suited
to operation in space. Our design is
compact, robust, and employs a con-
tinuous cold atomic beam, thus avoid- Walter F. Buell is a member of the technical staff in the Photonics
ing the problems associated with the Technology Department, where his research activities include laser-pumped
Dick effect. and laser-cooled atomic clocks and optical signal processing. Before joining
The Aerospace design is based Aerospace in 1997, Buell spent a year as visiting scientist at the Max Planck
upon a simple, robust cold atom Institute for Quantum Optics in Munich and performed post-doctoral research
source employing trapped, laser- in laser cooling of atoms at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
cooled atoms.The heart of the source He has written more than 20 papers in atomic, molecular, and optical
is a magneto-optic trap, or MOT, physics. He received a B.S. in physics from the University of Rochester, and
which combines three-dimensional M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Texas at Austin.
molasses with a set of coils producing e-mail: Walter.F.Buell@aero.org
an inhomogeneous magnetic field
Bernardo Jaduszliwer is principal director of the Electronics Technology
that traps the cold atoms at its center.
Center. He has been involved in atomic clocks and their applications in
A large-diameter, circularly polar-
space systems such as GPS and Milstar since joining Aerospace in 1985. He
ized laser beam is incident upon a
also lectures in physics at the University of Southern California. He came to
hollow conical mirror.The conical
Aerospace from New York University, where he was a faculty member of the
mirror is placed at the center of a pair
physics department. Jaduszliwer graduated from the University of Buenos
of oppositely oriented current-
Aires as a Licenciado en Ciencias Fisicas. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D.
carrying coils.These coils produce
degrees in physics from the University of Toronto.
the inhomogeneous magnetic field
e-mail: Bernardo.Jaduszliwer@aero.org
needed to trap the cold atoms. In this
way, the combination of incident

14 • Crosslink January 2000


Lasers Simulate Space Radiation Effects
Susan Humphrey, Stephen LaLumondiere, and Steven Moss

I magine that Serbian terrorists have assem-


bled in preparation for an attack on
nearby NATO troops stationed in Kosovo
as part of a newly negotiated peace agree-
ment. Unbeknown to the Serbs, their every
Testing microelectronic devices for their
degree of vulnerability to SEP is therefore in-
tegral to designing devices to be used in
space systems.The Aerospace Corporation is
developing a system to generate short-pulse
movement and every communication have X-rays for SEE testing of electronics that prom-
been followed by national intelligence assets ises to overcome disadvantages of typical test-
—satellites—orbiting unseen in space.As the ing methods used today.Testing using this
Serbs prepare to attack, allied commanders new method (explained in greater detail later
make use of intelligence information from in the article) is expected to begin in 2000.
these assets to direct their preparations and
The Radiation Environment
response.
SEP occur both in the terrestrial and the
At the most critical moment, however, the
space environment. SEP in the space
flow of information is suddenly and unexpect-
environment are primarily induced by ener-
edly cut off.The normal operation of the satel-
getic protons and heavy ions, although space
lites has been disrupted by intense solar flare
contains other energetic particles (e. g., elec-
activity.The resulting surge of extremely ener-
trons, X-rays, and gamma rays).The highest
getic particles rips through sensitive micro-
day-to-day fluxes of protons near Earth occur
electronic devices onboard the satellites,
in the Van Allen radiation belts that surround
producing single event phenomena (SEP).
our planet. Radiation belts are formed as a re-
SEP disrupt device and system performance
sult of Earth’s magnetic field, which traps en-
and, in some cases, may even result in the de-
ergetic electrons and protons within the belt
struction of the devices or systems affected.
regions.The energetic proton belt extends
Whether a scenario like this ever occurs de-
pends upon our ability to develop space sys-
tems containing microelectronic devices that
are tolerant of SEP.
Single Event Phenomena
Microelectronic devices are susceptible to
damage or interruption from exposure to radi-
ation. Such devices contain structures made
up of semiconductor materials that operate by
regulating current flow or the amount of elec-
trical charge held in a potential well. Interac-
tion with radiation, including any energetic
particle (electrons, protons, neutrons) or pho-
ton (gamma rays, X-rays), alters these precisely
regulated conditions and produces SEP.
SEP are classified by the type of effect that
occurs in the device, known as a single event
effect (SEE).Types of SEE include single event
upset, latchup, burnout, gate rupture, and total
dose.

Steven Moss, Susan Humphrey, and Stephen LaLumondiere


with their short-pulse X-ray equipment.

Crosslink January 2000 • 15


Cosmic rays traversing a microelectronic device
generate a track of charge that can alter precisely
regulated current flow or charge storage. Single
event phenomena can cause temporary or perma-
nent damage to such devices.

Source Gate Drain

Types of
Single Event Effects
Channel
Single Event Upset
Generally a transient condition
in which the output state of a
digital device (e.g., a bit-flip in
a memory cell or a change of
state of an inverter). The state Substrate Cosmic ray
recovers after being rewritten,
causing no permanent damage.
Single Event Latchup
Condition characterized by an
anomalous high current state,
where the current can go from from an altitude of about 500 kilome- to other SEP throughout even a signif-
picoamps (10−12) to amps. If ters to an altitude of 2.5 Earth radii icant solar flare event.
the power is cycled before (approximately 16,000 kilometers). The frequency of SEP occurrences
damage occurs, SEL may only Spacecraft at altitudes below 500 can be reduced with shielding; that is,
be transient. kilometers experience few effects be- using dense metallic shields to cover
Single Event Burnout cause potentially disruptive protons electronic parts. However, the most
Permanent failure due to main- are trapped at higher altitudes; the energetic particles found in space will
taining a high current state for Earth’s magnetic field also provides penetrate more shielding than most
an extended period of time. some measure of protection from both system designers will tolerate. Conse-
galactic cosmic rays and solar protons. quently, other methods of mitigating
Single Event Gate Rupture Spacecraft above the proton belt (for SEP must be used.
Permanent failure caused by di- example, satellites in geosynchronous One widely used approach is to
electric breakdown in the semi- equatorial orbit at very high altitude or employ microelectronic devices that
conductor oxide layer. spacecraft on interplanetary missions) have been specially designed and en-
Single Event Total Dose experience SEP caused by solar pro- gineered to be invulnerable to the
Permanent failure caused by a tons and galactic cosmic rays, which space radiation environment or, at
single particle that produces consist primarily of protons and alpha least, more tolerant of the environ-
enough ionization or displace- particles and a small number of heav- ment. However, development of such
ment damage in a transistor to ier nuclei. However, spacecraft that devices is expensive, and their per-
permanently degrade its per- traverse the proton belt are vulnerable formance (processor speed, for exam-
formance. SETD are more sig- to SEP from three sources: energetic ple) generally lags the performance of
nificant now because protons in the belt, galactic cosmic commercially available nontolerant
technology advances have led rays, and solar protons. devices by 10 years or more.
to very small transistor sizes, Solar flares may also produce A growing body of literature has
making it possible for a parti- stressing environments for satellites recently been developed around SEP
cle’s path to encompass much and may temporarily or permanently in the terrestrial environment.The
of an entire transistor. degrade system performance. During most energetic cosmic rays penetrate
Single Event Transient and immediately after flares, energetic the Earth’s magnetic field and interact
Effects (e.g., current spikes in particle fluxes encountered by space- with nitrogen and oxygen nuclei in
operational amplifiers) of short craft may increase by orders of magni- the upper atmosphere.These nuclear
time duration that may lead to tude.Typical solar flares last only a interactions yield neutrons that can
other effects downstream of the few days. Nonetheless, some mission penetrate to the ground.Anyone who
affected site that are longer in specifications require that systems be uses a solid-state digital camera can
duration. impervious to single event latchup observe these events simply by taking
(SEL) and only minimally responsive extended “exposures” in the dark.

16 • Crosslink January 2000


The space radiation environment includes
energetic protons, electrons, gamma rays, X-rays,
and heavy ions. All of these can produce single
Magnetosphere event phenomena that have the potential to
disrupt device and system performance—or even
destroy the devices or systems affected.

vide as wide a range of particle ener-


gies as is available with particle accel-
Solar wind erator techniques and thus does not
provide a sufficient range of LET data
to correlate to most space environ-
ments.
Most recently, laser testing meth-
ods have been developed that use a
Radiation belts short laser pulse, less than 10 picosec-
onds, to probe a device for SEE vul-
nerability. It has been shown that the
phenomena in the semiconductor de-
vice caused by an ultrashort laser
Frame-to-frame variations in the out- calibrated methods that can be corre- pulse and a charged particle are simi-
put in the form of intense, single-pixel lated to the different types of radia- lar. Devices are probed with a single
spikes are due to cosmic ray effects. tion environments.Traditionally, this is laser pulse for SEE, and thresholds for
Aircraft designers at Boeing,Airbus, achieved by exposing the electronic SEE are determined by the absorbed
and elsewhere are now taking ac- device to radiation from particle ac- laser energy.
count of SEP in systems design for air- celerators such as Van de Graaff gen- Laser probing of device susceptibil-
craft that fly at higher altitudes (above erators, cyclotrons, or synchrotrons, ity has several advantages over parti-
30,000 feet). Manufacturers of pace- from radioactive elements such as Cal- cle beam techniques:
makers for control of heartbeat irregu- ifornium, and from laser sources. " Laser beams can be focused to
larities worry about SEP effects on the Based on the results of SEE testing small spots, allowing location of
performance of microcontrollers by one or more of these methods, the sensitive nodes in complex inte-
within the pacemaker. Finally, micro- hardness of a device can be assessed. grated circuits with submicron
electronic device performance may be The probability of encountering a SEE precision.
degraded by SEP due to alpha particle during the required performance life- " Repeated laser excitation does not
decay from radioactive isotopes of time can be predicted as well. In the damage the material, whereas parti-
ions that are impurities in metals com- event that the device or part of the cle beam excitation produces per-
monly used for the microelectronics device is susceptible to SEE, then it manent damage.
themselves. may require special shielding or may " Lasers are less expensive and more
Regardless of whether radiation- need to be redesigned to withstand convenient to operate than particle
tolerant or commercially available the radiation environment. beam facilities.
nontolerant devices are used in a sys- Particle accelerator testing is the The principal disadvantage of laser-
tem, the system designer will need to most widely accepted method for based techniques for simulating SEE is
know their susceptibility to SEP. Con- measuring SEE susceptibility. Circuits that the laser light cannot penetrate
sequently, tests of SEP susceptibility are characterized for SEE sensitivity metal.Thus, a sensitive node com-
are typically required for all devices by measuring the cross section as a pletely covered with metal cannot be
to be used aboard a spacecraft.Tests function of accelerator ion linear en- interrogated using laser-based tech-
for SEP vulnerability in devices to be ergy transfer (LET) for a variety of niques. Modern high-performance in-
used terrestrially are becoming in- particles at a range of energies. tegrated cicuits have smaller features,
creasingly important. Californium (252Cf) is a radioactive higher levels of integration, and multi-
Traditional Testing Methods isotope that spontaneously decays to level metalization architectures com-
The level of exposure a given device produce an array of high-energy parti- pared with previous versions, leaving
can survive determines the “hardness” cles, alpha particles, and neutrons, many complex integrated circuits es-
of the device. In order to classify which are used to simulate the space sentially covered with metal and im-
devices according to hardness, it is radiation environment. However, penetrable to laser light.
necessary to test them for SEE using Californium emission does not pro-

Crosslink January 2000 • 17


Ablation of metal targets with intense femto-
second laser pulses produces a dense plasma 2-D translation stage
that emits ultrashort bursts of X-rays. These
X-ray pulses can be guided to precisely deter-
Monocapillary
mined locations on a device under test using
Target tube
monocapillary optics.

X rays

Device
under test

Laser
beam

Short-Pulse X-Ray plasma produced by ablation gener- openings of 25 millimeters have been
Generation ates X-ray pulses with ultrashort pulse used to focus X-rays to diameters as
Using short pulses of X-ray radiation durations. small as 3.5 millimeters; nothing, in
capable of penetrating layers of metal- X-rays generated by this technique principle, precludes production of
ization overcomes the disadvantages are emitted in all directions and need tubes with exit openings of 50
of laser testing of device susceptibility to be focused to be usable for SEE nanometers or less.
to SEE while preserving its advantages. testing.We use tapered monocapillary SEE Testing at The
To be reliable for hardness assurance optics to focus X-rays onto a sample. Aerospace Corporation
testing, such a system must meet spe- These monocapillary optics are hol- We are in the process of developing a
cial criteria. In order to generate SEE in low glass tubes that work as wave- system to generate short pulse X-rays
electronic devices, the X-rays must be guides for X-rays via total external to be used for SEE testing of
produced in the 0.8 to 5 kilo-electron- reflection.Tubes with input end electronics.The X-ray pulses are
volt energy range to be transmitted
through metalization (for example, alu-
minum, polysilicon, copper) and oxide Further Reading
layers and be absorbed in the active J. S.Mellinger, S. Buchner, D. McMor- X-ray pulses from laser-produced
region of the device.Additionally, row,W. J. Stapor,T. R.Weatherford, plasmas.” Science, Vol. 251, pages
charged particles pass through semi- and A. B. Campbell.“Critical Evalua- 531–536, 1991.
conductor devices in less than 1 tril- tion of the Pulsed Laser Method for C.Tribble, The Space Environment:
lionth of a second.Thus, the X-ray Single Event Effects Testing and Fun- Implications for Spacecraft Design.
pulse duration must be ultrafast. damental Studies.” IEEE Transactions Princeton University Press, Prince-
Recently, ultrashort X-ray pulses on Nuclear Science, Vol. NS-41, ton, NJ, 1995.
pages 2574–2584, 1994.
have been produced using ultrashort Technical articles on space radia-
laser pulses via high harmonic genera- G. C. Messenger and M. S.Ash. Single tion effects can be found in the
Event Effects. Chapman-Hall, New IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Sci-
tion, generation of ultrashort electron
York, 1997. ence. A general primer on single
bunches that produce X-rays when
launched into metal surfaces, and laser S. C. Moss, S. D. LaLumondiere, J. R. event effects as well as data on sin-
Scarpulla, K. P. MacWilliams,W. R. gle event phenomena in microelec-
ablation of metals to generate dense Crain, and R. Koga.“Correlation of Pi- tronic devices can be found online
plasmas that emit X-ray pulses. Of cosecond Laser-Induced Latchup at The Aerospace Corporation Web
these techniques, the latter is the most and Energetic Particle-Induced site (http://www.aero.org/ seet/).
feasible for producing pulses in the re- Latchup in CMOS Test Structures.” Other relevant online databases in-
quired energy range and for focusabil- IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Sci- clude sites at NASA (http://radnet.
ity of the X-ray pulses. In this method, ence, Vol. NS-42, pages 1948–1956, jpl.nasa. gov/ and http://flick.
ultrashort bursts of X-rays are gener- 1995. gsfc.nasa.gov/ radhome/) and the
M. M. Murnane, H. C. Kapteyn, M. D. U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
ated through the ablation of metal tar- (http://redex.nrl.navy.mil/).
gets illuminated with intense Rosen, and R.W. Falcone.“Ultrafast
femtosecond laser pulses.The dense

18 • Crosslink January 2000


Testing microelectronic devices
Pulse stretcher for their degree of vulnerability
100 fs to >200 ps to single event phenomena is
Beam integral to designing devices to
expander be used in space systems. Aero-
Titanium: sapphire space researchers have de-
oscillator signed a laser amplifier system
compressor that produces extremely intense
laser pulses. These pulses pro-
duce short bursts of X-rays that
Regenerative amplifier Multi-pass can be directed at microelec-
amplifier tronic devices for testing.
5 mJ
250 mJ
100 fs
Argon
ion
laser To target
pump
Solid-state pump Solid-state pump
laser I laser II

generated by the laser ablation tech- from the nanojoule to the millijoule femtoseconds, and then focused onto
nique.We have designed a laser ampli- level.A second stage multipass ampli- the target.
fier system to produce the extremely fier boosts the pulse energy to ap- The focusing optics and the target
intense laser pulses necessary.The proximately 200 millijoules. Before are enclosed in a vacuum chamber to
laser amplifier is based on a mode- reaching the first amplifier, the 100- prevent damage to the focusing op-
locked titanium:sapphire laser that femtosecond pulses from the oscilla- tics, ionization of the air and absorp-
produces 100-femtosecond pulses tor are temporally stretched to 200 tion of the X-rays by air.A portion of
with tunable wavelength ranging picoseconds in order to avoid laser in- the X-rays generated is collected and
from 700 to 900 nanometers.The duced damage of the optics through focused onto the device to be tested.
laser output is amplified in two the amplification process.The output Testing of microelectronic devices
stages. First, a regenerative amplifier of the multipass amplifier is spatially for SEP susceptibility using ultrashort
increases the oscillator pulse energy expanded, recompressed back to 100 X-ray pulses will begin in 2000.

Steven C. Moss manages the Lidar, Optical Propagation, and Spec-


troscopy Section of the Photonics Technology Department. He also studies ra-
diation effects on microelectronic devices, microelectronic materials, and
ultrafast phenomena, and develops lasers and optical systems. Moss received
a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Arkansas A&M College in 1970, an
M.S. in physics from Purdue University in 1972, and a Ph.D. in physics from
North Texas State University in 1981. Moss was a National Research Council
postdoctoral research associate at the Naval Research Laboratory prior to
joining Aerospace in 1984. e-mail: Steven.C.Moss@aero.org
Susan J. Humphrey is working on the development of a facility for testing
the susceptibility of microelectronic devices to radiation effects using short
pulsed X-rays. She has extensive experience with lasers and optical spec-
troscopy. Humphrey received a B.S. in chemistry from Juniata College in
1991, a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996,
and did post-doctorate work at the University of California, Santa Barbara,
before joining Aerospace in 1997. e-mail: Susan.J.Humphrey@aero.org
Stephen D. LaLumondiere has extensive experience with lasers, optics,
and electro-optics, as well as digital and analog microelectronics. His current
work includes pulsed laser testing of microelectronics for single event effects,
testing of radiation-tolerant CCDs, and detection of chemical and biological
materials. LaLumondiere received an A.S. in laser and electro-optics technol-
ogy from Vincennes University in 1987, when he joined Aerospace.
e-mail: Steven.D.LaLumondiere@aero.org

Crosslink January 2000 • 19


New Hazards for a New Age
William Ailor

T he first satellite was launched in 1957.


Since then, so many objects have been
put into space that today more than
650 operating satellites and 9,000 objects are
being tracked, not to mention more than
impact. For example, objects in low Earth orbit
can collide at speeds exceeding 10 kilometers
per second.At these speeds, even a small parti-
cle can cause serious damage.
As we enter the 21st century, it is becoming
100,000 bits of debris too small to follow. increasingly common for the Space Shuttle to
Such debris includes pieces of aluminum have to dodge oncoming debris.Accordingly, the
chuffed from satellite boost stages, blobs of new Space Station will be outfitted with shields
liquid metal coolant that leaked from dis- designed to protect astronauts from collisions
carded space reactors, debris resulting from with objects smaller than 2.5 centimeters.
satellite explosions, and lens covers and other What Does the Future Hold?
hardware discarded during normal satellite Experts predict that in 10 years an additional
operations. Some of this material will remain 2,000 satellites could be operating above us—
in Earth orbit for hundreds or thousands of a four-fold increase over the current number.
years. Many of these, like the 68-satellite Iridium con-
For many years, there was little concern stellation, will be operating in low Earth orbit.
about releasing material in orbit or simply leav- What will happen to the debris count as we
ing a satellite to drift in space at the end of its increase our use of space?
mission.Today there is heightened awareness Efforts are under way to develop interna-
that space debris poses a hazard to operating tional guidelines and policies designed to limit
satellites because of high relative velocities at the growth of debris.Venting propellant tanks
and discharging batteries at the end of a mis-
sion will eliminate the possibility of explo-
sions.Tethering lens covers and other debris
from normal operations will prevent these
items from floating off and becoming a hazard.
And policies requiring that all spacecraft and
stages be deorbited or placed into disposal or-
bits at the end of their missions will prevent
them from endangering future satellites.
Deorbiting space hardware ends the hazard
for other satellites, but presents a new
problem—the possibility of debris surviving
reentry and hitting people or property on the
ground or in the air.
Aerospace Center for
Debris Studies
Recognizing the growing importance of these
issues,The Aerospace Corporation established
the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Stud-
ies in 1997.The center has focused internal re-
search on developing techniques to predict and
avoid collisions of satellites with oncoming ob-
jects and on improving our understanding of
William Ailor with a pressurant tank from a Delta Stage 2 rocket after it reentered the orbit decay and reentry breakup.
atmosphere and landed in Texas. The tank is shown before launch in the photograph on
page 22.

20 • Crosslink January 2000


Manufactured objects orbiting Earth. Red ob-
jects are debris; white objects are operating
satellites. The outer ring is composed of satel-
lites in geosynchronous equatorial orbit.

One product of this research is Col-


lisionVision, a software suite designed
to predict close approaches to launch
vehicles and satellites and estimate the
probability of collision. Developed to
increase launch and on-orbit safety,
Collision Vision has undergone
extensive testing and verification.A
special parallel processing computer
was recently installed in the Aerospace
Colorado Springs office to enable
faster computations of close ap-
proaches and research into relative
hazards.
Demand is mounting from com-
mercial companies for the informa-
tion provided by CollisionVision. For
example, operators of satellites in low
Earth and in high-altitude geosynchro-
nous equatorial orbits are recognizing
that early warning of close approaches
may help them avoid possible satellite
loss and liability.The center has been
working to increase the services avail-
able to commercial operators. Devel-
opments in this area will benefit all
users of space.
The center has also provided back-
ground information and technical ad-
vice to policy makers assessing the
implications of alternative approaches
for defining disposal orbits and is
helping to show the hazard that space
debris poses to tethers and that teth-
ers pose to other space objects.
Reentry Breakup:
Improving Predictions
The reentry of objects into the atmos-
phere exposes hardware to severe
aerodynamic heating and loads.
Accurate predictions of the response
and breakup characteristics of hard-
ware would enable good predictions
of hazards to people and property on
In this close approach, CollisionVision predicts that the two ellipsoids representing the position un-
the ground.
certainty of each spacecraft will intersect. CollisionVision estimates the probability of the two space-
Good predictions would also en- craft actually colliding and helps the operator decide if a maneuver, which depletes valuable
able spacecraft designs to incorporate propellant reserves, is desirable.

Crosslink January 2000 • 21


NASA
The impact of the Delta Stage 2 563-pound stainless steel fuel tank 50 yards from a
farmer’s home in Texas was ample demonstration that space hardware can and does
survive reentry.

The Delta Stage 2 before launch. After 9 months, the stage reentered the atmosphere. The
large brown stainless steel section, one of the red pressurant tanks weighing 67 pounds,
and a third, lightweight piece were recovered. Based on Aerospace analysis, it is likely
NASA

that other components of the Delta Stage 2 survived the reentry.

features to enhance breakup. For ex- control and power generation on it broke up over Topeka, Kansas, at
ample, if it is shown that stainless satellites designed for deep space mis- approximately 3:30 a.m. and released
steel fuel tanks will survive reentry, sions are encased in special materials a debris stream that stretched 400
constructing tanks of lower melting to ensure survival during reentry.Ac- miles over Oklahoma and Texas.The
point materials such as aluminum curate models of the reentry environ- recovered debris generated from this
may ensure that large pieces don’t hit ment will increase confidence that reentry included a small fragment
the ground. Structural elements can these systems will work as planned. weighing less than 1 pound, a helium
be designed to fail at certain tempera- Space Debris in Your tank weighing 67 pounds, and a
tures, exposing critical elements to di- Backyard? fuel/oxidizer tank weighing 563
rect heating early in the trajectory. A Delta Stage 2 rocket body reentered pounds.The small fragment
Improved knowledge may help over the central portion of the United reportedly struck a woman near Tulsa,
ensure that critical elements designed States in the early morning hours of Oklahoma, but caused no injury.
to survive reentry work as planned. January 22, 1997.As this stage reen- Detailed reconstruction of the tra-
For example, radioactive materials tered the atmosphere traveling south jectory of the Delta stage in the 1997
that provide heat for temperature reentry is enhancing our knowledge

Further Reading
European Space Agency. ESA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, Monterey,
Debris Mitigation Handbook, Release California, February 9–11, 1998; also in
1.0., European Space Agency,April 7, Advances in Astronautical Science
1999. Vol. 99, pages 1059–1071, September
N. L. Johnson,“Monitoring and Con- 1998.
trolling Debris in Space.” Scientific D. B. Spencer, Orbital Debris and the
American, pages 62–67,August 1998. Environmental Restoration of Space:
R. P. Patera, and W. H.Ailor.“The Reali- A Report to the Congressional De-
ties of Reentry Disposal.”A98-43901 fense Committees. AFRL-VS-PS-TR-
12-12, Spaceflight Mechanics 1998: 1998-1024,Air Force Research
Proceedings of the AAS/ AIAA Space Laboratory, February 1998.

22 • Crosslink January 2000


Breakup— Andice Altitude = 35
78 kilometers 33 kilometers
195

Topeka
Walburg
Fragment impact location 195

Impact location
35
Oklahoma
City Altitude =
18 kilometers
29 29
Fuel tank impact location 29
Dallas Georgetown
35 35M

Left: The ground track followed by the reenter-


ing Delta tank. Trajectory reconstruction
showed that major breakup began at approxi-
Houston
mately 78 kilometers. Blowup: The ground
San Antonio track for the fuel tank. The “dogleg” occurred
Helium ball impact location after the tank had slowed to a freefall velocity
at approximately 21 kilometers and was blown
off track by the wind during its final fall to the
ground. The tank hit the ground at a speed of
approximately 38 meters per second.

of reentry dynamics and reentry temperature of the tank exceeded


breakup.As the reentering stage was 1200°C as it fell toward Earth.As an
broken apart by aerodynamic heating interesting sidelight, the metallurgical
and loads, each piece followed a analysis also showed that the tank
unique trajectory.The lightest piece was hit by more than a dozen mi-
slowed quickly and came down in Ok- crometeoroids or small space debris
lahoma; the heavier objects proceeded objects during its 9 months in space.
further.Total length of the debris foot- It is clear that the 21st century will
print for this breakup exceeds 750 pose new problems for the use of
kilometers, characteristic of orbit space.The Aerospace Corporation,
decay reentries. through its new Center for Orbital
The trajectory analysis was supple- and Reentry Debris Studies, is helping
mented by results of a metallurgical to develop the tools required to oper-
examination of the stainless steel fuel ate safely and effectively in this new
tank, which showed that the surface environment.

William H. Ailor received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue


University. He joined The Aerospace Corporation in 1974 and spent the last
15 years conducting analyses on spacecraft reentry and reentry breakup.
Ailor received a NASA Group Achievement Award in 1992 for his work in
helping to understand the reentry breakup characteristics of the Space Shut-
tle External Tank. In 1997 he was appointed director of the newly formed
Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies. Ailor has appeared on NBC
Nightly News, CBS Evening News, ABC News, CNN, as well as the Discov-
ery Channel as an expert on the November 1998 Leonid meteoroid storm’s
possible effects on satellites, topics related to space debris and reentry
breakup. e-mail: William.H.Ailor@aero.org

Crosslink January 2000 • 23


Recent Patents Awarded to Aerospace Scientists

E. J. Beiting,“Fast Optical Absorption G. Csanky,“Current Mode Transistor R. Kumar,“Kalman Filter Ionospheric


Tomography Apparatus and Circuit,” U. S. Patent No. 5,889,430, Delay Estimator,” U. S. Patent No.
Method,” U.S. Patent No. March 1999. 5,867,411, February 1999.
5,798,840,August 1998. G. Csanky,“Current Mode Transistor S. Lazar,“Method for Detecting and Lo-
B. B. Brady,“Vehicular Engine Combus- Circuit Method,” U. S. Patent No. cating Sources of Communication
tion Suppression Method,” U.S. 5,889,431, March 1999. Signal Interference Employing
Patent No. 5,848,650, December R. B. Dybdal,“Extended Spatial Acquisi- Both a Directional and an Omni
1998. tion Method for Tracking Anten- Antenna,” U.S. Patent No.
D. J. Chang, J. P. Nokes, F. Hai,“Mi- nas,” U. S. Patent No. 5,952,962, 5,818,389, October 1998.
croballoon Impregnated Fiber Re- September 1999 M. S. Leung, N.A. Ives, G. Eng,“Three-
inforced RTV Film Compression R. B. Dybdal, S. J. Curry,“Adaptive Re- Dimensional Real-Image Volumet-
Stress,” U.S. Patent No. 5,814,734, ceiving Antenna for Beam Reposi- ric Display System and Method,”
September 1998. tioning,” U. S. Patent No. U.S. Patent No. 5,745,197,April
D. J. Chang, J. P. Nokes, F. Hai,“Mi- 5,739,788,April 1998. 1998.
croballoon Impregnated Fiber Re- R. B. Dybdal, S. J. Curry,“Adaptive D. H. Platus,“Method for Thermally
inforced RTV Film Compression Transmitting Antenna,” U.S. Patent Testing with a Laser Edge of a
Stress Sensor Testing Method,” No. 5,781,845, July 1998. Sapphire Window,” U.S. Patent No.
U.S. Patent No. 5,808,207, Septem- E.T. Falangas,“Active Piezo-Electric Vi- 5,709,471, January 1998.
ber 1998. bration Isolation and Directional D. H. Platus, R. P.Welle, P. M.Adams,
D. J. Chang,W. D. Hanna,“Rubber Sub- Systems,” U.S. Patent No. “Sapphire Window Laser Edge An-
strate Shear Lap-Joint Testing 5,734,246, March 1998. nealing,” U.S. Patent No.
Fixture,” U.S. Patent No. D. J. Hefflinger,“Free-Space Star- 5,697,998, December 1998.
5,753,823, May 1998. Coupled Optical Data Bus,” U.S. G. Radhakrishnan,“Magnetic Field
D. J. Chang,W. D. Hanna,“Rubber Sub- Patent No. 5,726,786, March Pulsed Laser Deposition of Thin
strate Shear Lap-Joint Testing 1998. Films,” U. S. Patent No. 5,858,478,
Fixture and Method,” U.S. Patent H. S. Hou, “Modulated Lapped Trans- January 1999
No. 5,705,752, January 1998. form Method,” U. S. Patent No. S. Rubin,“Tuned Broadband Particu-
C. J. Clark,A.A. Moulthrop, M. S. Muha, 5,859,788, January 1999. late Vibration Absorber,” U. S.
C. P. Silva, “Frequency Translating B. Jaduszliwer, C. M. Klimcak, G. L. Patent No. 5,855,260, January
Device Transmission Response Loper, “Diode Laser Interrogated 1999.
Method,” U. S. Patent No. Fiber Optic Hydrazine-Fuel B. H.Weiller,“Method of Controlling
5,937,006,August 1999. Sensor,” U.S. Patent No. 5,747,348, Reactions Between Tetrakis Di-
R. N. Constant,“Free Space Image May 1998. alkylamine Titanium and Ammo-
Communication System and B. Jaduszliwer, C. M. Klimcak, G. L. nia for Producing Titanium
Method,” U.S. Patent No. Loper,“Diode Laser Interrogated Nitride Films,” U.S. Patent No.
5,793,880,August 1998. Fiber Optic Hydrazine-Fuel 5,763,007, June 1998.
Sensor System and Method,” U.S.
Patent No. 5,674,751, October
1998.

24 • Crosslink January 2000


Dynamics of Meteor Outbursts and
Satellite Mitigation Strategies
Glenn Peterson
The potential threat posed by Leonid meteoroids to or-
biting spacecraft over the next several years calls for
new dynamic mitigation strategies to assist the satellite
community in reducing the danger to their vehicles. This
book offers deliberate dynamic mitigation strategies to
complement the traditional shielding strategies, provid-
ing mission operators additional ways to decrease the
danger. Five different attitude control and orbit maneu-
vering options are examined in detail. In addition, the
book describes how to assess potential meteoric threats
and examines possible future dangers. The information
is presented in algorithmic form to allow technically
competent, but meteoroid inexpert, operators to easily
understand and implement the procedures. Although
general in scope, the book emphasizes the Leonid me-
teor events of November, 1998–2000.
1999 • 216 pp • ISBN 1-884989-06-3
Microengineering Aerospace Systems
Henry Helvajian, editor
A textbook tutorial for aerospace applications, Micro-
engineering Aerospace Systems encompasses MEMS (mi-
croelectromechanical systems) nanoelectronics,
packaging, processing, and materials characterization
The Aerospace Press for developing miniaturized “smart” instruments for aero-
space systems (i.e., ASIM—application-specific inte-
The Aerospace Press publishes scientific and tech- grated microinstrument), satellites, and satellite
nical books and monographs by authors from The subsystems. The book is third in a series of publications
covering this rapidly advancing technology. It presents
Aerospace Corporation. The publications are fundamental aspects of the technology and specific aero-
available from the American Institute of Aeronau- space systems applications through worked examples.
1999 • 707 pp • ISBN 1-88499-03-9
tics and Astronautics, copublisher with the Press, at
800.639.AIAA or www.aiaa.org Communication Satellites 1958-1995
Donald H. Martin
Civil, Commercial, and International Remote Communication Satellites 1958–1995 chronicles the
Sensing Systems and Geoprocessing evolution of commercial, military, national, and interna-
David L. Glackin and Gerard R. Peltzer tional communication satellites. The text covers nine cat-
The field of space-based remote sensing is evolving egories of communication satellites and provides
away from the complex and expensive government technical details of each type of satellite launched by
systems of a few nations toward commercialization, in- 1995. Satellite descriptions are supplemented by
ternational proliferation, smaller satellites, lower cost, graphic representations, including block diagrams of
and an emphasis on end-user products. This book pro- communication subsystems, schematics, flowcharts, and
vides an overview of the field of satellite environmen- maps.
tal remote sensing of the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, 1996 • 483 • ISBN 1-884989-O2-O
and land surface from 1980 to 2007. It summarizes Satellite Thermal Control Handbook
the evolution of the field, current status, and projec- David G. Gilmore, editor
tions for the ensuing decade. Its many charts survey
this evolution in a form never before available, and This practical handbook provides the thermal engineer
the comprehensive tabular appendix summarizes pro- with enough background and specific information to
grams and instrument complements from Argentina begin conducting thermal analysis and to participate in
through Ukraine. Also discussed is the evolution of, the thermal design of satellite systems. Contents include
and prospects for, geoprocessing, including Geo- a general overview of satellite systems and space flight
graphic Information Systems. Approximately 30 sepa- thermal environments, descriptions of actual satellite
rate market segments are identified. This book is a and component thermal designs, thermal control hard-
unique resource guide to a field standing on the cusp ware and the thermal design and testing process. It is
of tremendous change. intended to be useful to thermal engineers of all experi-
1999 • 89 pp • ISBN 1-884989-07-1 ence level.
1994 • 581 pp • ISBN 1-8849889-OO-4

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