From: Allen Thomson (thomsona@flash.net) Subject: Re: LES-8/9 : semistealthy? Newsgroups: sci.space.history Date: 2000/10/13 In article <8s64ks$5hq$1@Masala.CC.UH.EDU>, sjforsbe@Bayou.UH.EDU (Steven James Forsberg) wrote: > : It also represents the fifth or sixth confirmed or reasonably > : believable report of low-observable satellite studies, technology > : development efforts or actual programs stretching from the early > : 1960's to ca. 1990. > Were you familiar with some of the patent history? IIRC > about 1971 was the filing datae for #6,107,952 [ http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US06107952__ ] > titled "Crossed Skirt > AntiRadar Screen Structure for Space Vehicles". I don't recall the > inventor bu the assignee, according to my notes, is TRW. In the late > 60s there were two systems patented that used "a plurality of > overlapping biconvex lenses", one of them was inflatable. There were > a couple of other patents cited, but I didn't look at them. I'd known about 5,345,238 (http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US05345238__ ) from 1990, but the ones you cite are new to me. Thanks much. If you could find the patent numbers for the biconvex ones, I'd appreciate it, as I couldn't locate them in a patent search. (The antiradar screen is admirably UFO-like in appearance. ;-) )