Real Time Monitoring of Natural and Enhanced Space Environments

The proposed effort will develop a novel radiation classifier for detecting optical and non-optical sources causing interference or potential damage to the STSS spacecraft. Two distinct sensor compnents will be used in the design. A pulse-optimized sensor with multiple coincidence channels will detect optical transient events and provide data on space weather (i.e., particle events and energy distribution). An imaging diffractometer will be used to characterize DC and low frequency phenomena with high sensivity. Both sensors will be able to localize the direction of sources detected and provide feedback to the spacecraft with a real-time processing algorithms based in space qualified field programmable gate arrays. SSI is experienced in developing space qualified hardware and will leverage designs in handheld and airborne sensors that are suitable for transition to the space environment. SSI also believes the proposed sensors could be used for other MDA missions such as detecting and characterizing flashes from missile intercepts which is a key requirement for kill assessment.