US planetary radar could get a boost from Green Bank Observatory

It was serendipity that had already made scientists play with a demonstration of a new planetary radar system, just as the earth had lost its most powerful instrument.

Well, serendipity and a fervent desire for more radar observations of everything from asteroids hanging around near the earth to icy moons around the farthest planets. And the facility behind the experiment, the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, has enough history with planetary radar systems to take on a new role in the field. The result is a sparkling new image of a historic site on the most famous object of the solar system, the moon. Scientists hope the image is the reason for the permanent installation of a much more powerful radar transmitter at the observatory’s leading telescope, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope.

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