The Perkin-elmer Corporation

Hughes Aircraft Company

Rene Abreu

Edward T Siebert

David S Dunavan

William T Krohn

Mark J McNally

Jeffrey W Grotts

Frank Kissh

Kenneth Bolin

Stephen Messelt

Walter Fowski

David Flynn

Kenneth Miklus

A star tracker 10 of an attitude control system 8 on board a spacecraft 9 is positioned so that the tracker's line-of-sight vector 12 intersects the origin of the reference axis but is askew from any reference axis of the spacecraft. The attitude control system transforms the dam from a star tracker reference coordinate system to a spacecraft reference coordinate system so as to allow control of the attitude of the spacecraft without modification of existing equipment.

System and method for sensing attitude of a spacecraft with equilized

A method and apparatus for tracking a light source in a transient event rich environment locks on to a light source incident on a field-of-view 1 of a charge-coupled-device (CCD) array 6, validates the permanence of said light source and transmits data relating to the brilliance and location of said light source if said light source is determined to be permanent.

Method and apparatus for acquisition and tracking of light sources in a

Apparatus for detecting and determining the direction of arrival of optical radiation. The apparatus includes a first mask having one or more slit apertures, a binary encoding mask which combines the functions of angle sensing and digitizing using a so-called gray encoding scheme, and interdigitated detector(s) to produce differential electrical signals, and output processing electronics for providing a digital code or word corresponding to the angle-of-arrival of the incident radiation.

Optical direction sensor having gray code mask spaced from a plurality

This invention relates to unequal path interferometers which are adapted, among other possible uses, for use in detecting coherent radiation as from a laser in a packet of radiation including incoherent background radiation, which includes an unequal optical path length interferometer of the type in which portions of the radiation impinging on the interferometric component are caused to be recombined after travelling two different optical paths; the optical paths differing in length by an amount substantially greater than the coherence length of the non-coherent radiation but substantially less than the coherence length of the coherent radiation; the unequal optical path length interferometric component including a crystalline cell having anisotropic properties; circuitry for applying an ultrasonic sound wave to the crystalline cell to vary the effective index of refraction of the crystalline cell in a preselected systematic manner; a detector for detecting the intensity of the recombined portions and producing a signal representative thereof, said signal having a variable component caused by the varying constructive and destructive interference of the recombined coherent radiation components, while the recombined non-coherent radiation components produce only a substantially steady background signal.

Coherent radiation detecting apparatus

A non-imaging detector for directly measuring the angle of incidence of irradiation in one plane from an illuminating source. The detector includes a slit mask that transmits narrow lines of irradiation across an array of detectors closely underlying the slit mask. The detectors are configured to generate photocurrents whose ratio exponentially increase as the irradiation lines through the slits move along the array in response to changes in angle of incidence. The detectors are configured according to an exponential formula so that adjacent rows of detectors produce photocurrents so that the photocurrent log difference from adjacent rows will result in a signal directly proportional to incidence angle when subtracted by associated circuitry.

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New Fairfield, CT, United States of America

Rene Abreu