NEUTRAL PARTICLE BEAM LOCATION, AIMING CALIBRATION AND TARGET HIT IDENTIFICATION

THE DETERMINATION OF MISS-VECTOR AND IDENTIFICATION OF HITS ON TARGET BY A NEUTRAL PARTICLE BEAM (NPB) IN SPACE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR THIS ANTIBALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE CONCEPT. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL INVESTIGATE THE USE OF ATMOSPHERIC FLUORESCENCE IN THE ZONE OF BEAM IONIZATION (STRIPPING) BELOW AND BEHIND THE TARGET FOR THIS PURPOSE. THE COLLIMATED ZONE OF ATMOSPHERIC LUMINESCENCE WOULD INDICATE THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF THE TARGET AND THE BEAM; HITS ON TARGET WOULD BE SIGNALED BY A STRONG DECREASE OF ATMOSPHERIC EXCITATIONS. THE PROGRAM WILL ESTABLISH LUMINESCENCE SIGNAL LEVELS, SIGNAL/NOISE RATIOS, AND MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THEM AND BEAM PARAMETERS, ACCELERATOR PLATFORM AND TARGET LOCATION, RELATIVE VELOCITIES, AND GEOPHYSICAL CONDITIONS.