Message posted by Tom on October 16, 2005 at 18:57:48 PST:
You are correct in that the spheres are RCS calibration devices dropped from aircraft. Remember Groom has a DYCOMMS setup, which is sort of a fly-through RCS range (or so I've heard). As the spheres fall, no matter how they tumble they always present the same cross section to the radar. I believe spheres may come in different sizes for different frequencies. Of course when they hit the ground they get dented. To get further mileage out of them (horizontal as opposed to vertical), they get reused as boundary markers. The neat thing about a shiny sphere on a pole is that as long as the sun is out, some part of the sphere will reflect it to the viewer (unless you're standing next to it in its shade). So the chopper or boys on the ground can easily tell where the border is.
Curiously, these things have a pretty good vacuum in them until they get punctured. Perhaps that has to do with the welding process of the two hemispheres. Oh yeah, and one would suppose (not that I have any firsthand knowledge of it) that they would make absolutely bitchin' Van de Graaf generator globes. Serious high voltage on something of that diameter.
In Reply to: Re: Area 51 Trip July 2005 posted by lone wolf on October 16, 2005 at 18:39:02 PST:
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