Philosophy
At last a methodology to scan incoming cubetainers for radioactive materials...technological fallout from sound science.
Detecting gamma-ray bursts from space is really no different than finding and intercepting nuclear material illegally stowed inside shipping containers or even trains — at least that’s the view of the Principal Investigator who created the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) that has detected hundreds of gamma-ray bursts from all directions in the sky.
To prove his point, Principal Investigator Scott Barthelmy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., received Department of Energy funding to cobble together a prototype system using leftover components from the BAT-development effort. Although his prototype would have to be smaller and more mobile to operate as a counter-terrorism tool, the same principles are at play, he said. He hopes to make the case and win Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding to build a second-generation detection system equipped with even more capable detectors now being developed under Goddard’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program.
The instrument that inspired the potential spin-off application is now flying aboard NASA’s Swift mission, which as its name implies, swiftly detects gamma-ray bursts and then targets itself toward the event in about one minute to make detailed observations. Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe — second only to the Big Bang in terms of total energy output. They occur randomly about once per day, lasting only a few milliseconds to tens of milliseconds in duration.
Scientists believe these split-second flashes of gamma-ray light signal the collision of a black hole and a neutron star or the collision of two neutron stars that then create a black hole. Hypernova, the explosion of massive stars, also are believed to cause the bursts.
First Line of Defense
BAT is the instrument that detects and locates the burst. Developed with Goddard R&D funding several years ago, BAT carries out its job using a technique called a "coded aperture mask" that creates a gamma-ray shadow on its 32,768-pixel, cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detector plane. The mask itself contains 52,000 randomly placed lead tiles that block some gamma rays from reaching the detectors. With each burst, some of the CZT detectors light up while others remain dark, shaded by the lead tiles. The angle of the shadow points to the direction of the gamma-ray burst.
The same instrument concept is ideal for homeland security, Barthelmy said. "We’ve already produced an instrument that has a 100-degree field of view and can pinpoint the location of a gamma-ray source," Barthelmy said. "It's what you would need to find and intercept nuclear material stowed inside shipping containers and trains."
A new generation of CZT detectors and electronics, which Barthelmy is developing under current IRAD funding for possible use on NASA's proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST), would further improve the prototype. "They really need the ability to distinguish legitimate sources," he said. The new CZT technology would do just that. It could distinguish isotopes and determine whether the detected nuclear material was medical in nature or posed a national security threat, he said.
The next step, he said, is winning DHS funding and developing a second-generation prototype using the EXIST detectors. "We really want to move into the second stage."
- Maven To Mars
NASA... On Sunday, Nov. 17, a mission science briefing was broadcasted on NASA TV to discuss the Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutionN, or MAVEN, set to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket Nov. 18....
- Deceased--robert Lin
Robert LinJanuary 24th, 1942 to November 17th, 2012 "Robert Lin, UC Berkeley pioneer in experimental space physics, dies at 70" by Robert Sanders November 21st, 2012 UC Berkeley Physicist Robert Peichung Lin, a former director of the Space Sciences Laboratory...
- Jedi Onboard Juno Probe
NASA's Juno spacecraft, set to arrive at Jupiter in 2016, carries three APL-built Jupiter Energetic-particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) units. Each unit weighs 15.5 pounds and uses 7 watts of power. For scale, the box that contains electronics and...
- Stinky Old Things Can Be Treated
"Lorraine Gibson: How the smell of decay can help save relics" Chemist Lorraine Gibson is working on technology to analyse the condition of old books and treasures by the gases they emit by Robin McKie March 27th, 2011 The Observer Walk into a library...
- Becky Parker...getting Kids Involved In Science
"A student research network built on a chip" June 2010 Symmetry What inspired you in physics? Was it the curriculum at school? For me it was a lecture about Mars that Carl Sagan gave at the Royal Institution; it was 1977, and he invited the audience—I...
Philosophy
Scan those "cubetainers" for radioactivity.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities
At last a methodology to scan incoming cubetainers for radioactive materials...technological fallout from sound science.
"NASA Gamma-Ray Detector Finds Homeland Security Uses"
Lori Keesey
June 16th, 2008
NASA Tech Briefs
Lori Keesey
June 16th, 2008
NASA Tech Briefs
Detecting gamma-ray bursts from space is really no different than finding and intercepting nuclear material illegally stowed inside shipping containers or even trains — at least that’s the view of the Principal Investigator who created the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) that has detected hundreds of gamma-ray bursts from all directions in the sky.
To prove his point, Principal Investigator Scott Barthelmy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., received Department of Energy funding to cobble together a prototype system using leftover components from the BAT-development effort. Although his prototype would have to be smaller and more mobile to operate as a counter-terrorism tool, the same principles are at play, he said. He hopes to make the case and win Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding to build a second-generation detection system equipped with even more capable detectors now being developed under Goddard’s Internal Research and Development (IRAD) program.
The instrument that inspired the potential spin-off application is now flying aboard NASA’s Swift mission, which as its name implies, swiftly detects gamma-ray bursts and then targets itself toward the event in about one minute to make detailed observations. Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe — second only to the Big Bang in terms of total energy output. They occur randomly about once per day, lasting only a few milliseconds to tens of milliseconds in duration.
Scientists believe these split-second flashes of gamma-ray light signal the collision of a black hole and a neutron star or the collision of two neutron stars that then create a black hole. Hypernova, the explosion of massive stars, also are believed to cause the bursts.
First Line of Defense
BAT is the instrument that detects and locates the burst. Developed with Goddard R&D funding several years ago, BAT carries out its job using a technique called a "coded aperture mask" that creates a gamma-ray shadow on its 32,768-pixel, cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detector plane. The mask itself contains 52,000 randomly placed lead tiles that block some gamma rays from reaching the detectors. With each burst, some of the CZT detectors light up while others remain dark, shaded by the lead tiles. The angle of the shadow points to the direction of the gamma-ray burst.
The same instrument concept is ideal for homeland security, Barthelmy said. "We’ve already produced an instrument that has a 100-degree field of view and can pinpoint the location of a gamma-ray source," Barthelmy said. "It's what you would need to find and intercept nuclear material stowed inside shipping containers and trains."
A new generation of CZT detectors and electronics, which Barthelmy is developing under current IRAD funding for possible use on NASA's proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST), would further improve the prototype. "They really need the ability to distinguish legitimate sources," he said. The new CZT technology would do just that. It could distinguish isotopes and determine whether the detected nuclear material was medical in nature or posed a national security threat, he said.
The next step, he said, is winning DHS funding and developing a second-generation prototype using the EXIST detectors. "We really want to move into the second stage."
- Maven To Mars
NASA... On Sunday, Nov. 17, a mission science briefing was broadcasted on NASA TV to discuss the Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutionN, or MAVEN, set to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket Nov. 18....
- Deceased--robert Lin
Robert LinJanuary 24th, 1942 to November 17th, 2012 "Robert Lin, UC Berkeley pioneer in experimental space physics, dies at 70" by Robert Sanders November 21st, 2012 UC Berkeley Physicist Robert Peichung Lin, a former director of the Space Sciences Laboratory...
- Jedi Onboard Juno Probe
NASA's Juno spacecraft, set to arrive at Jupiter in 2016, carries three APL-built Jupiter Energetic-particle Detector Instrument (JEDI) units. Each unit weighs 15.5 pounds and uses 7 watts of power. For scale, the box that contains electronics and...
- Stinky Old Things Can Be Treated
"Lorraine Gibson: How the smell of decay can help save relics" Chemist Lorraine Gibson is working on technology to analyse the condition of old books and treasures by the gases they emit by Robin McKie March 27th, 2011 The Observer Walk into a library...
- Becky Parker...getting Kids Involved In Science
"A student research network built on a chip" June 2010 Symmetry What inspired you in physics? Was it the curriculum at school? For me it was a lecture about Mars that Carl Sagan gave at the Royal Institution; it was 1977, and he invited the audience—I...