![]() ![]() In 1998, Lincoln Laboratory initiated the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program under NASA sponsorship, and LINEAR began using the GEODSS systems equipped with the large-format CCDs for wide-area search for asteroids and comets. In 1996, the Lincoln Laboratory research team experimented with using the GEODSS telescopes to detect asteroids (or as astronomers say, minor planets) and comets. After validating that the new focal planes were capable of wide-area, highly sensitive detection and tracking of satellites, technology transfer of the GEODSS upgrade was initiated, and the prototype CCDs and cameras on the ETS GEODSS telescopes became available for use on other efforts.Ī GEODSS test system at the Experimental Test Site. These new focal planes both improved the GEODDS system sensitivity and sped up the readout of the collected images. The new back-illuminated, large-format CCDs and prototype cameras were tested on two developmental GEODSS telescopes at Lincoln’s Experimental Test Site (ETS) at the White Sands Missile Range near Socorro, New Mexico. In the mid-1990s, Lincoln Laboratory developed a charge-coupled-device (CCD) focal plane upgrade for the Air Force’s ground-based electro-optical deep-space surveillance (GEODSS) system this upgrade replaced the aging GEODSS cameras that used Ebsicon tubes. Our researchers have found more than 20 percent of all known near-Earth objects that are at least 140 meters (460 feet) in size, large enough to have significant regional effects were they to impact the Earth. Lincoln Laboratory has been working since the late 1990s to help with the discovery and characterization of potentially hazardous asteroids. Then, their orbits can be calculated to estimate how close the asteroids will come to Earth. To answer these questions, scientists first need to know what asteroids are orbiting the Sun. When will the next dangerous asteroid penetrate the atmosphere and seriously impact the Earth? Could that next asteroid be large enough to jeopardize civilization on Earth? ![]() NASA has estimated that about once a year an asteroid the size of a car enters Earth's atmosphere, creating a great fireball while burning up before it reaches Earth's surface and roughly every 2,000 years, a football-stadium-sized meteoroid strikes Earth causing significant damage. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |