A test of a powerful new space imaging instrument has given us a gloriously detailed new perspective of the Apollo 15 moon landing site.
By reflecting a powerful radar signal from the lunar surface, the new instrument has been able to achieve spectacular resolution, displaying objects as small as 5 meters (16.4 feet).
Designed for the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia by Raytheon Intelligence & Space, this proof-of-concept technology paves the way for even more powerful radar images in the future, potentially allowing scientists to study objects as far away as Neptune.
Radar images of the moon are not a new idea, however. It is an extremely useful tool to reveal fine structures on the surface and, at longer wavelengths, to examine even more than 10 meters below the surface to observe variations in the regolith’s density (here on Earth, this technology can help bury us ruins).
But the Green Bank Observatory, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space are trying to push the technology even further.
(Sophia Dagnello, NRAO / GBO / Raytheon / AUI / NSF / USGS)
In a test in November last year, the new transmitter sent a radar signal to the moon, specifically targeting the Apollo 15 landing site – a tiny patch of moon, on a disc 3,474.2 kilometers (2,158.8 miles) in diameter, hundreds of thousands miles away.
This signal was picked up by the Very Long Baseline Array when it bounced. This is a collection of radio telescopes in the US, which basically combine to create a collection dish the size of a continent.
The image below is the result. That canyon in the top center is a crater called Hadley C, about 6 kilometers wide. The Hadley Rille winds past, believed to be a collapsed lava tube.
(NRAO / GBO / Raytheon / NSF / AUI)
Believe it or not, but this is not even half. Now that they have successfully proven the concept, the team will work on an even more powerful transmitter: a 500 kilowatt radar system that will allow them to see even more incredible details.
This tool would be useful for all types of science. We could of course get a closer look at our moon. We could see the moons of other planets. It can even be used to image passing asteroids and space debris, which are too faint to see with optical telescopes, but which we can investigate using radar technology.
This could help us better understand the population of objects – both natural and anthropogenic – in near-terrestrial space, which in turn could aid in planetary defense against potentially dangerous objects.
“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 Green Bank Observatory site director Karen O’Neil.
And if it gets us even more incredible photos of the moon, we’ll be in no time.