A test of a powerful new space imaging tool gave us a glorious new and detailed perspective of the Apollo 15 landing site.
By jumping a strong radar signal from the lunar surface, the new instrument managed to achieve a spectacular resolution, showing objects up to 5 meters (16.4 feet).
Designed for the West Virginia Green Bank Telescope by Raytheon Intelligence & Space, this proof-of-concept technology paves the way for even stronger radar imaging in the future, potentially allowing scientists to study objects even as far as Neptune.
However, the radar image of the Moon is not a new idea. It is an extraordinarily useful tool for revealing fine structures at the surface and at longer wavelengths, even probing more than 10 meters below the surface to observe variations in the density of the rule (here on Earth, this technology can help us find buried ruins).
But the Green Bank Observatory, the National Observatory of Radio Astronomy and Intelligence and Raytheon Space are trying to push technology even further.
(Sophia Dagnello, NRAO / GBO / Raytheon / AUI / NSF / USGS)
In a test last November, the new transmitter sent a radar signal to the moon, specifically targeting the Apollo 15 landing site – a small patch of the moon, on a 3,474.2-kilometer (2,158.8-mile) disk in diameter, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
This signal, when returned, was collected by the very long base matrix. This is a collection of radio telescopes from the USA, which practically combine to create a continental-sized collection vessel.
The image below is the result. The divot in the upper middle is a crater called Hadley C, with a distance of about 6 kilometers. Snaking past him is Hadley Rille, considered to be a collapsed lava tube.
(NRAO / GBO / Raytheon / NSF / AUI)
Believe it or not, though, that’s not even half. Now that they have successfully proven the concept, the team will work on an even more powerful transmitter: a high-power 500-kilowatt radar system that will allow them to see even more incredible details.
This tool would be useful for all kinds of sciences. We could see the moon more closely, for sure. I could see the months of other planets. It could even be used to imagine passing asteroids and space debris, which are too faint to be seen using optical telescopes, but which we can probe using radar technology.
This could help us better understand the population of objects – both natural and anthropogenic – in space close to Earth, which in turn could help defend the planet against potentially dangerous objects.
“The planned system will be a leap forward in radar science, allowing access to features of the Earth’s solar system so far,” said Green Bank Observatory site director Karen O’Neil.
And if it gives us even more incredible images of the Moon, we’re so here for it.