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AFGL 2136
In the early decades of the Cold War, especially after the launch of Sputnik 1, the United States Air Force (USAF) became interested in methods for detecting and tracking ballistic missiles and satellites. These objects radiate primarily in the infrared, so it was natural to try to detect their infrared Spectral energy distribution, signatures. However the infrared appearance of a rocket being launched is very different than that of a satellite in orbit, so the Air Force wanted a suite of infrared detectors that would cover much of the infrared part of the spectrum. Additionally, the Air Force needed to know what permanent background sources were in the sky, to allow discrimination of target from background. Astronomical sources could also be used for detector calibration. Astronomers had not yet mapped the infrared sky, and much of the infrared radiation could not pass through the atmosphere and be observed from the ground. The Air Force began a program that ran from the mid-196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
