MAY 2016 | 19 BY DAN RALEY | PHOTOS BY BOB FERGUSON he Starfire Optical Range sits nestled in the high desert of New Mexico, its shiny collection of domes distinguishing it from the barren landscape. Kirtland Air Force Base boundaries offer plenty of privacy, as do seemingly endless stretches of sand and sagebrush. At the center of the hillside observatory is a powerful black and white telescope that comes into view once the largest dome collapses and rotates out of sight and heavy metal doors open on an inner protective shell. Boeing supports the U.S. Air Force engineers and scientists who experiment here with lasers in conjunction with the 3.5-meter (11.4-foot) telescope to better monitor man-made objects in orbit, much of it space debris. As satellites get smaller and the number of space objects increases dramatically, research in imaging and identification of the space objects is paramount. The Air Force conducts research in laser guide star adaptive optics, beam control and space object identification. A laser guide star is an “artificial star” T
Frontiers May 2016 Issue
To see the actual publication please follow the link above