Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
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The video below mentions that cobalt-57 was in the Utah Athena launch reentry vehicle that strayed to impact, not on White Sands but in Mexico. It was claimed to have been encapsulated although that encapsulation didn't survive impact. Perhaps they were testing the reaction of nuke components that might use it like a neutron generator or sprytron in a reentry environment or it was somehow involved in the in-flight measurement of the decreasing ablative heat shield thickness (via some kind of backscatter?) to be telemetered back to the ground since the RV would be destroyed on impact.
https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Pasley1.html
2.3 The Sprytron.
The Sprytron, otherwise known as the Vacuum Krytron, is a device of very similar performance to the Krytron. Though it generally exhibits a somewhat lower time delay after triggering. The Sprytron is designed for use in
environments were high levels of radiation are present. The sprytron is a hard vacuum 'filled' device unlike the krytron which, as noted above contains a low pressure gas.
The Sprytron has only three leads, (no keep alive), but is otherwise very similar in outward construction to the Krytron. The reason for the use of a vacuum filling is almost certainly that there is no medium present for
radiation from the external environment to ionize (such ionization could promote spurious triggering effects.)
The Sprytron requires a more powerful trigger pulse than the Krytron, as the device works by forming an arc directly between the trigger and the cathode, which causes the tube to breakdown (go into conduction) by disrupting the field between the anode and cathode.
Although it is usually stated that Krytrons were the devices sought in smuggling involving Israel, Iraq and Pakistan, it may well be that Sprytrons were involved with at least some of these cases, rather than the gas filled krytron, due to the very similar size and performance coupled with very high radiation resistance.
The reason that radiation sensitivity is important in nuclear warheads is not actually that the radiation levels inside a bomb are liable to be especially high. It is rather that a nearby nuclear explosion may in the case of a non radiation hard device, cause an undesirable condition in the warhead.
Missiles over Mexico: A Cold War Story
Athena-H Sounding Rocket
The Athena was designed to simulate the re-entry environment of an intercontinental ballistic missile [reentry vehicle] and was one of the few examples of sustained interstate missile tests within the United States.
https://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Library/Pasley1.html
2.3 The Sprytron.
The Sprytron, otherwise known as the Vacuum Krytron, is a device of very similar performance to the Krytron. Though it generally exhibits a somewhat lower time delay after triggering. The Sprytron is designed for use in
environments were high levels of radiation are present. The sprytron is a hard vacuum 'filled' device unlike the krytron which, as noted above contains a low pressure gas.
The Sprytron has only three leads, (no keep alive), but is otherwise very similar in outward construction to the Krytron. The reason for the use of a vacuum filling is almost certainly that there is no medium present for
radiation from the external environment to ionize (such ionization could promote spurious triggering effects.)
The Sprytron requires a more powerful trigger pulse than the Krytron, as the device works by forming an arc directly between the trigger and the cathode, which causes the tube to breakdown (go into conduction) by disrupting the field between the anode and cathode.
Although it is usually stated that Krytrons were the devices sought in smuggling involving Israel, Iraq and Pakistan, it may well be that Sprytrons were involved with at least some of these cases, rather than the gas filled krytron, due to the very similar size and performance coupled with very high radiation resistance.
The reason that radiation sensitivity is important in nuclear warheads is not actually that the radiation levels inside a bomb are liable to be especially high. It is rather that a nearby nuclear explosion may in the case of a non radiation hard device, cause an undesirable condition in the warhead.
Missiles over Mexico: A Cold War Story
Athena-H Sounding Rocket
The Athena was designed to simulate the re-entry environment of an intercontinental ballistic missile [reentry vehicle] and was one of the few examples of sustained interstate missile tests within the United States.
