NASA Orbital Debris Observatory
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NASA Orbital Debris Observatory (NODO) was an
astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
located in the
Lincoln National Forest Lincoln National Forest is a unit of the U.S. Forest Service located in southern New Mexico. The Lincoln National Forest covers an extensive 1.1 million acres in southeastern New Mexico. Established by Presidential Proclamation in 1902 as the Li ...
near Cloudcroft,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
approximately northeast of
Alamogordo Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), Sac ...
. From 1995 to 2002 it hosted two telescopes funded and operated by
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
that were dedicated to detecting
orbital debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...
. The facility was initially called the Cloudcroft Electro-Optical Research Facility when it was completed in 1962, and was also known as the
Cloudcroft Observatory Cloudcroft Observatory, ( obs. code: V29) is an astronomical observatory located in the Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcroft, New Mexico, approximately northeast of Alamogordo. It is owned by the Tzec Maun Foundation, a private astro ...
. It is now privately owned by Embry-Riddle University.


Telescopes

* The NASA-LMT was a
aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
liquid-mirror telescope Liquid-mirror telescopes are telescopes with mirrors made with a reflective liquid. The most common liquid used is mercury, but other liquids will work as well (for example, low-melting point alloys of gallium). The liquid and its container are ...
located in NODO's main dome. It consisted of a 3 m diameter
parabolic dish A parabolic (or paraboloid or paraboloidal) reflector (or dish or mirror) is a reflective surface used to collect or project energy such as light, sound, or radio waves. Its shape is part of a circular paraboloid, that is, the surface generated ...
that held of a highly reflective
liquid metal A liquid metal is a metal or a metal alloy which is liquid at or near room temperature. The only stable liquid elemental metal at room temperature is Mercury (element), mercury (Hg), which is molten above −38.8 °C (234.3 K, −37.9  ...
, mercury, spinning at a rate of 10 rpm, with sensors mounted above on a fixed structure. Due to the
primary mirror A primary mirror (or primary) is the principal light-gathering surface (the objective) of a reflecting telescope. Description The primary mirror of a reflecting telescope is a spherical, parabolic, or hyperbolic shaped disks of polished ...
's material, the NASA-LMT was configured as a
zenith telescope A zenith telescope is a type of telescope that is designed to point straight up at or near the zenith. They are used for precision measurement of star positions, to simplify telescope construction, or both. A classic zenith telescope, also known ...
. Using 20 narrowband filters, it cataloged
space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...
in Earth's orbit. The telescope was initially completed in 1994 at NASA's
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...
, and moved to Cloudcroft the following year, where it operated routinely until June 2002. The LMT was also used for the UBC-NASA Multi-Narrowband survey, which examined galaxies at moderate
redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and e ...
s. When it was retired, some of the components were used in the
Large Zenith Telescope The Large Zenith Telescope (LZT) was a 6.0-meter diameter liquid-mirror telescope located in the University of British Columbia's Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, about east from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (north from Maple Ridge). It w ...
in
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
. * The ''CCD Debris Telescope'' (CDT) was a portable
Schmidt camera A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. Some notable ...
equipped with a 512×512 pixel
charge-coupled device A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
(CCD) sensor. It operated at NODO from October 1997 until December 2001, and was used to characterize debris at or near
geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...
. It had previously operated at
Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory Rattlesnake Mountain (Native American name Lalíik meaning "land above the water") is a 3,531 ft (1,060 m) windswept treeless ridge overlooking the Hanford nuclear site. Parts of the western slope are privately owned ranchland, while the e ...
and the
Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing observatory The Maui Space Surveillance Complex (MSSC) is a U.S. Space Force operating location for the 15th Space Surveillance Squadron and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Haleakala Observatory on Maui, Hawaii, with a twofold mission (). Fir ...
. The CDT was donated to Embry–Riddle University after deactivation.


Gallery

File:Liquid Mirror Telescope.jpg, NASA Liquid Mirror Telescope File:CCD_Debris_Telescope.png, CCD Debris Telescope


See also

*
List of astronomical observatories This is a partial list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no lon ...
*
List of largest optical reflecting telescopes This list of the largest optical reflecting telescopes with Objective (optics), objective diameters of or greater is sorted by aperture, which is a measure of the light-gathering power and resolution of a reflecting telescope. The mirrors themse ...
*
List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century The following is a list of the largest optical telescopes in the 20th century, paying special attention to the diameter of the mirror or lens of the telescope's Objective (optics), objective, or aperture. Aperture rank currently goes approximately ...
*
ESA Space Debris Telescope The ESA Optical Ground Station (''OGS Telescope'' or ''ESA Space Debris Telescope'') is the European Space Agency's ground based Astronomical observatory, observatory at the Teide Observatory on Tenerife, Spain, built for the observation of space ...


References


External links


Orbital Debris Program Office
at NASA
Large Zenith Telescope homepage
{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Otero County, New Mexico Liquid mirror telescopes Defunct astronomical observatories Space debris 1995 establishments in New Mexico 2002 disestablishments in New Mexico