Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events
FORTE was a Department of Energy technology-demonstration mission jointly developed by Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. Its long radio antenna, broadband receivers, optical lightning sensors, and onboard event classifier tested ways to distinguish nuclear-test signatures from natural electromagnetic transients while also building a valuable record of lightning and ionospheric propagation.
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Identity
- Aliases
- FORTEP94-11997-047A
- Name
- Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events
- Slug
- fast-on-orbit-recording-of-transient-events
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- FORTE was a Department of Energy technology-demonstration mission jointly developed by Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. Its long radio antenna, broadband receivers, optical lightning sensors, and onboard event classifier tested ways to distinguish nuclear-test signatures from natural electromagnetic transients while also building a valuable record of lightning and ionospheric propagation.
- Launch Site
- Outcome
- FORTE reached its planned orbit and its radio-frequency and optical systems operated successfully. The mission validated transient-detection techniques, mapped electromagnetic backgrounds, tested classification algorithms, and produced research datasets that improved understanding of lightning, narrow bipolar events, and the ionosphere well beyond its initial one-to-three-year design horizon.
- Program
- Nuclear Detonation Detection System technology demonstration
- Start Date
- 1997-08-29
- Vehicle Families
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 18, 2026 at 17:30:55 UTC
- Updated Time
- July 18, 2026 at 17:30:55 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles