jjcollins
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 1999
If you fly out of Orlando International Airport during the next few months, security personnel might ask whether you would go through some additional passenger screening.
Don't worry; it doesn't mean they suspect you of being a threat. The airport is the operational test site for the next generation of airport security-screening devices.
Starting as early as today, random passengers leaving from Gates 60 to 129 will be asked by test engineers from the National Safe Skies Alliance if they would like to volunteer to try one or more of six screening systems being tested.
The new systems go well beyond the metal detectors that now guard gates at the nation's airports. One machine can analyze the contents of sealed bottles to see whether duty-free liquor bottles really contain liquor and not something hazardous. Another can detect trace amounts of explosives on a person's clothing. A third can look through a person's clothing to uncover concealed weapons.
The new machines being tested:
EntryScan explosives and narcotics detector. This machine blows a series of quick puffs of air on passengers. The vapors and particles the puffs shake loose from the person are collected and instantly analyzed. The machine can detect trace amounts of heroin, dynamite or other drugs or explosives. A separate scanner checks carry-on bags for explosives.
Advanced weapons-detection portal. As passengers walk through this machine, which looks like a standard metal detector, a scanner analyzes signals coming from the person at the same time it takes a digital picture of the passenger. The picture is displayed on a computer screen with any potential hazards pinpointed on the picture.
A dual X-ray baggage scanner. Current machines X-ray bags from only one direction. The test machine scans bags from the side and above, giving screeners a much better "look" at the contents. "If you put a gun in and screen it, then you can't see it from the direction it's screened," said Ken Blankenship, a test engineer with Safe Skies, of the current system. "But this way, you can see it from the side."
A liquid explosives detector. This machine uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging to analyze the liquid contents of sealed bottles. The scanner can quickly distinguish harmless liquids from flammable and explosive liquids. It also can detect dissolved drug substances or unreported alcohol content.
A full-body scanner. This machine can detect weapons hidden beneath a person's clothing. A low-intensity X-ray allows a screener to "see" through a person's clothes. And unlike metal detectors, the scanner can spot weapons made out of plastic or other materials.
jj...........
Don't worry; it doesn't mean they suspect you of being a threat. The airport is the operational test site for the next generation of airport security-screening devices.
Starting as early as today, random passengers leaving from Gates 60 to 129 will be asked by test engineers from the National Safe Skies Alliance if they would like to volunteer to try one or more of six screening systems being tested.
The new systems go well beyond the metal detectors that now guard gates at the nation's airports. One machine can analyze the contents of sealed bottles to see whether duty-free liquor bottles really contain liquor and not something hazardous. Another can detect trace amounts of explosives on a person's clothing. A third can look through a person's clothing to uncover concealed weapons.
The new machines being tested:
EntryScan explosives and narcotics detector. This machine blows a series of quick puffs of air on passengers. The vapors and particles the puffs shake loose from the person are collected and instantly analyzed. The machine can detect trace amounts of heroin, dynamite or other drugs or explosives. A separate scanner checks carry-on bags for explosives.
Advanced weapons-detection portal. As passengers walk through this machine, which looks like a standard metal detector, a scanner analyzes signals coming from the person at the same time it takes a digital picture of the passenger. The picture is displayed on a computer screen with any potential hazards pinpointed on the picture.
A dual X-ray baggage scanner. Current machines X-ray bags from only one direction. The test machine scans bags from the side and above, giving screeners a much better "look" at the contents. "If you put a gun in and screen it, then you can't see it from the direction it's screened," said Ken Blankenship, a test engineer with Safe Skies, of the current system. "But this way, you can see it from the side."
A liquid explosives detector. This machine uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging to analyze the liquid contents of sealed bottles. The scanner can quickly distinguish harmless liquids from flammable and explosive liquids. It also can detect dissolved drug substances or unreported alcohol content.
A full-body scanner. This machine can detect weapons hidden beneath a person's clothing. A low-intensity X-ray allows a screener to "see" through a person's clothes. And unlike metal detectors, the scanner can spot weapons made out of plastic or other materials.
jj...........
