(no subject)
jbarker@arinc.com
Fri, 5 Jan 1996 10:22:05 -0500
I found this short description in the Army Space Reference Text
(1993).
In an earlier message, it was mentioned that the Moon is detected
passing through the beam. If the beam is projected vertically along
the 33rd parallel, then the Moon's orbit would have to have an
inclination greater than 33 deg. Something doesn't sound right.
jbarker@arinc.com
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Navy Space Surveillance (NAVSPASUR) System
The NAVSPASUR system consists of three transmitters and six
receivers located along the 33d parallel in the U.S. The transmitters
emit a vertical continuous beam which forms an electronic fence. When
an object passes through one of the transmitter's waves in space and
two or more geographically separated receivers detect the reflected
energy, the object's location can be determined by triangulation
derived by interferometric techniques. This is essentially the same
process that bistatic radars use. It does not track, it only detects.
Once the object's location and general direction of movement are
determined, NAVSPASUR operators notify the Space Surveillance Center,
which can then notify a tracking radar to make more precise
determinations of the object's characteristics. The range of this
fence is 5,000 miles in length and can detect satellite sized objects
up to 15,000 miles out in space. The space object in orbit must have
an inclination of greater than 33 degrees in order to pass through the
electronic fence. More than one million detections are made every
month.
Transmitters are located at Gila River, Arizona; Lake Kickapoo,
Texas; and Jordan Lake, Alabama. Receivers are located at Fort
Stewart, Georgia; Hawkinsville, Georgia; Silver Lake, Mississippi; Red
River, Arkansas; Elephant Butte, New Mexico; and San Diego,
California.
NAVSPASUR headquarters is at Dahlgren, Virginia. The headquarters
is also the Alternate Space Defense Operations Center and the
Alternate Space Surveillance Center.