TSA to Test New Passenger Imaging Technologies

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin testing millimeter wave imaging machines, as well as additional backscatter machines, meant to detect weapons, explosives and other metallic and non-metallic threat items concealed under layers of clothing, without having to make physical contact.

The tests will be conducted at airport security checkpoints in the coming months at Phoenix, Los Angeles, and New York's Kennedy.

A millimeter wave image, which looks like a fuzzy photo negative, is created when electromagnetic waves are reflected from the body.  X-ray backscatter technology uses a narrow, low intensity X-ray beam, scanned over the body's surface at high speed.  To ensure privacy, the officer viewing the image will be remotely located and unable to associate the image with the passenger being screened.  In addition, the image will not be stored, transmitted or printed, the TSA says.

The tests are part of contracts awarded by the TSA to L-3 Communications for a millimeter wave system and to American Science & Engineering and Rapiscan Systems for backscatter units.  The contracts call for each vendor to lease up to five of their systems to TSA for testing in airports for up to six months. Total cost of the initial contracts is approximately $2.3 million, with options to purchase additional units.

Backscatter technology has been in place at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport since February, and passengers have been choosing backscatter screening over a physical pat-down by a wide margin, the TSA says. The new contracts will allow the agency to expand this testing, and evaluate millimeter wave technology for the first time at security checkpoints in the U.S.  Once a test and evaluation schedule is finalized, the technology will be evaluated until one or more vendors are chosen for a wider deployment.  08-04-2007.

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