The moon is not that far from the earth, if you consider the distance of the earth from other planets. However, taking high-resolution images of the Moon's surface from Earth has always been a challenge, even with modern equipment.
A team of researchers created ένα πρωτότυπο σύστημα radar που κατέγραψε την εικόνα της Σελήνης με την υψηλότερη ανάλυση που έχει ληφθεί ποτέ από τη γη. Η τεχνολογία θα μπορούσε να ανοίξει το δρόμο για ένα νέο σύστημα παρατήρησης που θα μπορούσε να μελετήσει πλανήτες, φεγγάρια και αστεροειδείς στο Ηλιακό Σύστημα.
The prototype, created by a "team of scientists and engineers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)" is tasked with creating a "next-generation high-power planetary radar system" for the Green Bank Telescope.
The prototype is already operational and has been used to produce "some of the highest resolution planetary images ever recorded by radar from Earth".
It uses a low-power transmitter that operates “with an output power of up to 700 watts at 13,9 GHz”. The research team tested it by targeting the surface of the moon.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory's 25-meter VLBA antennas captured an image of the Moon's Tycho crater captured using the technology with 5-meter resolution.
Work on the main system has already started. It will have nearly 1000 times the power output and several times the waveform bandwidth of the original. The flagship system will be a 500 kilowatt planetary radar for the Green Bank Observatory using the VLBA and the future Next Generation Very Large Array as receivers.
The researchers believe that once the system is operational, it will become the first line of planetary defense, as it will be "capable of detecting, tracking and characterizing potentially hazardous objects" that could fall with Earth.
