Horizon sensor with a plurality of fixedly-positioned radiationcompensated radiation sensitive detectors

Claim 1

A HORIZON SENSOR COMPRISING: AT LEAST ONE MULTIDETECTOR HEAD FIXEDLY POSITIONED WITH RESPECT TO A REFERENCE AXIS, SAID HEAD INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF RADIATION DETECTORS, EACH ADAPTED TO RECEIVE RADIATION ENERGY OR RADIATE ENERGY INTO SPACE, AND PROVIDING A POTENTIAL OUTPUT AS A FUNCTION THEREOF; FIRST MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE RADIATION SURFACES OF SAID DETECTORS WHEREBY THE OUTPUTS OF DETECTORS RADIATING ENERGY INTO SPACE ARE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO ZERO, AND BELOW A PREDETERMINED THRESHOLD LEVEL; SECOND MEANS FOR PROVIDING A SEQUUENCE OF CONTROL PULSES DEFINING A SCANNING CYCLE; THIRD MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID CONTROL PULSES FOR SEQUENTIALLY SENSING THE OUTPUTS OF SAID DETECTORS;