Scientists have unveiled an incredibly detailed image of the lunar surface with objects as small as five meters in diameter captured with reflected radar signals.
Released by the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the image shows the landing site of NASA’s Apollo 15 mission in 1971 and the surrounding quarries and jagged craters.
To obtain the image, researchers used satellites that fired a powerful radar signal at the moon, which was then reflected back to a system of 10 radio telescopes in North America called the Very Long Baseline Array.
The end result marks a successful preliminary test of the highly complex radio telescope system.
Now scientists want to develop it further to capture more detailed images from much deeper in our solar system, including the surfaces of Neptune and Uranus.
New radar image of the Apollo 15 landing site, located to prominent lunar features. Apollo 15 landed in Hadley-Apennine, an area near the moon, on July 30, 1971
“The planned system will be a leap forward in radar science, providing access to never-before-seen features of the solar system from here on Earth,” said Karen O’Neil, site director of the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia.
The project combines the efforts of the Green Bank Observatory (GBO), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Raytheon Intelligence & Space of the National Science Foundation.
GBO’s Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia – the world’s largest fully controllable radio telescope – was equipped with a new transmitter developed by Raytheon Intelligence & Space, enabling it to send the radar signal into space.
The NRAO’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) for the entire continent received the signal once reflected from the lunar surface and produced the image.
The image was taken last November, but has only just been released by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
GBT-VLBA radar image of the region where Apollo 15 landed in 1971. The serpentine feature is Hadley Rille, a relic of ancient volcanic activity, likely a collapsed lava tube
Apollo 15 – NASA, 1971. Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin uses shovel to dig lunar soil in front of Mount Hadley, 1971
Apollo 15 Commander Dave Scott salutes the American flag at Hadley-Apennine lunar landing site. The Lunar Module ‘Falcon’ is partially visible on the right, 1971
The new image shows the Apollo 15 landing site right next to a serpent-like notch called Hadley Rille, a holdover from ancient volcanic activity, likely a collapsed lava tube.
The crater at the top, next to the rille, is called Hadley C and has a diameter of about 6 kilometers.
Apollo 15 landed in Hadley-Apennine, an area near the lunar surface, on July 30, 1971.
It was the ninth manned mission in NASA’s Apollo program and the fourth to land on the moon.
The Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope. This telescope will be equipped with a new planetary radar transmitter for studying objects in the solar system.
Antenna locations of the Very Long Baseline Array for the entire continent. These antennas serve as reception sites for the reflected radar signal from the Green Bank Telescope
Using the information gathered from this latest test, scientists will finalize a plan to develop a 500-kilowatt, powerful radar system that can image objects in the solar system ‘with unprecedented detail and sensitivity.
This allows astronomers to use radar signals as far away as the orbits of Uranus and Neptune – the two outer planets in our solar system, which are approximately 1.6 billion and 2.7 billion miles from our home planet, respectively.
“The proof-of-concept test, culminating in a two-year effort, paves the way for the design of a more powerful transmitter for the telescope,” NRAO said in a statement.
“More power will allow better detection and imaging of small objects passing Earth, moons orbiting other planets, and other debris in the solar system.”
WHAT WAS THE APOLLO PROGRAM?
NASA photo taken on July 16, 1969 shows the huge, 363-foot high Apollo 11 Spacecraft 107 / Lunar Module S / Saturn 506) spacecraft launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT) ).
Apollo was the NASA program launched in 1961 that got the first human on the moon eight years later.
The first four flights tested the equipment for the Apollo program and six of the other seven flights landed on the moon.
The first manned mission to the moon was Apollo 8, which orbited it on Christmas Eve in 1968 but did not land.
The Apollo 9 crew spent ten days in orbit and completed the lunar module’s first manned flight – the portion of the Apollo rocket that would later land Neil Armstrong on the moon.
The Apollo 11 mission was the first to land on the moon on July 20, 1969.
The capsule landed on the Sea of Tranquility, with mission commander Neil Armstrong and pilot Buzz Aldrin.
Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the lunar surface while Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon.
When Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, he said, “That’s a small step for (a) man; a giant leap for humanity. ‘
Apollo 12 landed on the Ocean of Storms later that year on Nov. 19, NASA writes.
Apollo 13 would be the third mission to land on the Moon, but just under 56 hours after the flight, an explosion from an oxygen tank forced the crew to cancel the lunar landing and go to the Aquarius lunar module to return to the Moon. soil.
Apollo 15 was the ninth manned lunar mission in the Apollo space program and was considered the most successful manned spaceflight up to that point due to its long duration and greater emphasis on scientific exploration than had been possible in previous missions.
The last Apollo moon landing took place in 1972 after a total of 12 astronauts landed on the lunar surface.
Astronaut Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin unpacks experiments from the Lunar Module on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Photographed by Neil Armstrong, July 20, 1969