MRO deploys radar antenna
Posted: Thu, Sep 21, 2006, 8:12 AM ET (1212 GMT)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has successfully deployed the antenna for an Italian radar system on the spacecraft that will be used to look for evidence of subsurface water. The antenna for the Shallow Subsurface Radar (SHARAD) deployed over the weekend, its twin arms unfurling to their full length of five meters each, and the radar received its first echo on Monday. SHARAD will be used by scientists to probe layers just below the surface of Mars, looking for potential layers of water ice. The radar will complement a similar instrument on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which has been in orbit since late 2003; the two operate on different frequencies and thus have different resolutions and ground-penetrating capabilities. SHARAD was built Alcatel Alenia Space for the Italian Space Agency, with Northrop Grumman providing the antenna.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has successfully deployed the antenna for an Italian radar system on the spacecraft that will be used to look for evidence of subsurface water. The antenna for the Shallow Subsurface Radar (SHARAD) deployed over the weekend, its twin arms unfurling to their full length of five meters each, and the radar received its first echo on Monday. SHARAD will be used by scientists to probe layers just below the surface of Mars, looking for potential layers of water ice. The radar will complement a similar instrument on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which has been in orbit since late 2003; the two operate on different frequencies and thus have different resolutions and ground-penetrating capabilities. SHARAD was built Alcatel Alenia Space for the Italian Space Agency, with Northrop Grumman providing the antenna.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, August 12
Firefly Now Targeting Next Alpha Flight By Year’s End
Aviation Week — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) 'Russian Starlink' Is Fast Becoming A Reality, There's Just One Problem For The Kremlin
Radio Free Europe — 4:52 am ET (0852 GMT) Firefly Aerospace Announces Extension of Multi-Launch Agreement with Lockheed Martin Through 2031
Firefly Aerospace — 4:50 am ET (0850 GMT) Firefly’s SciTec Awarded $94 Million U.S. Space Force Contract to Advance Ground-Based Radar Digitization Program
Firefly Aerospace — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) Registration Now Open for Spacepower Conference 2026
EINPresswire.com — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
