![]() These high-resolution images are sensitive to motion and slightly better than the fidelity of the dynamic models used for object ephemeris. “The detail in these images is stunning,” Wilkinson said. The Apollo 15 landing site and Tycho Crater are two sites from where two-dimensional and three-dimensional images have been collected from the telescope that show tremendous detail, especially on the floor of Tycho. The signals collected from the Green Bank Telescope transmitter in West Virginia, which use a pilot system that employs a synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, are generating the highest resolution images of the moon ever taken from the ground. “And within less than two years, we were generating images of the moon.”Ī key component in gathering these celestial images is the Very Long Baseline Array¸ which is a radio interferometer that collects high-resolution imagery of astronomical objects. “Those one-on-one conversations turned into a visit to the Green Bank Observatory, and Steven said, ‘Yes, we think this will work,’ and one thing led to another,” said Tom Markarian, director of Advanced Technology & Systems of Raytheon Intelligence & Space’s Department 22. The project appealed to Wilkinson, who has a background in both radar and observational astronomy. In follow-up conversations, Beasley asked Wilkinson for ideas on integrating a transmitter into the Green Bank Telescope. Tony Beasley, director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, about technical areas that overlapped between RI&S and the NRAO. The joint project began after small talk during a conference between Wilkinson and Dr. Steven Wilkinson, a principal engineering fellow at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business. “The moon is a nice astronomical object because it is close, we know more about it than other objects, and it has difficulties to overcome that can be translated into the planetary defense and planetary science observations,” said Dr. This partnership is researching how this new radio telescope system will enhance detection and imaging of small objects passing by the Earth, moons orbiting around other planets and other debris in the solar system.īecause of the moon’s proximity to Earth and scientists’ deep knowledge of it, the moon is being used as a testing ground for the telescope and RI&S’ radar transmitter. ![]() RI&S outfitted the telescope with a transmitter to emit radar signals into space. ![]() Raytheon Intelligence & Space has partnered with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Green Bank Observatory to use the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope to collect new imagery of the moon and its surface.
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