Midcourse Defense Concepts. Volume III. System Configuration and Feasibility of an X-Ray Sensor for Exo-Atmospheric Use

Abstract

The feasibility of exo-atmospheric discrimination of replica balloon decoys from reentry vehicles by means of an X-ray sensor system in a Midcourse Defense (MCD) context is analyzed. The discrimination relies on the fact that a replica decoy will contain less electrons than a reentry vehicle (RV) and thus if these objects are subjected to a flux of high energy X-rays, the Compton scattered radiation will by at least an order of magnitude greater for the RV. A first-order analysis and modeling of the system is performed, and the resulting expected performancce is presented. Due to the characteristic distance and time parameters imposed by the MCD context, it is found to be unfeasible at the present time. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1973
Accession Number
AD0914312

Entities

People

  • J. Sanborn

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cosmic Rays
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Electromagnetic Scattering
  • Electrons
  • High Energy
  • Measurement
  • Midcourse Defense
  • Radiation
  • Reentry Vehicles
  • Scattering
  • Scintillation Counters
  • Space Environments
  • Test And Evaluation
  • Vehicles
  • X Rays
  • X-Ray Detectors

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Solar Physics
  • Theoretical Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems