NASA's most advanced radar system nears its launch.
(Photo : Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The silhouette of US engineer and NASA astronaut Megan McArthur is seen past the NASA logo in the Webb Auditorium at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2022.
NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is expected to be the first radar to routinely observe Earth from space.
The international space union partnered with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to create NISAR.
NISAR has two radar systems; one was developed by NASA and the other one is from ISRO. This advanced radar system is expected to help NASA protect Earth once it is in orbit.
NASA's Most Advanced Radar System
According to Interesting Engineering's latest report, NISAR is designed to survey Earth's land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days.
(Photo : Photo by Alexander Gerst / ESA via Getty Images)
In this handout photo provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 17, 2014, German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took this image of the Earth reflecting light from the sun whilst aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
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Via its official JPL blog post, NASA said that NISAR will help it study natural hazards, melting ice, groundwater supply, etc.
Unlike other radar systems, NISAR can measure movements on Earth's surface in extremely fine detail.
"It will also survey forests and agricultural regions to help scientists understand carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere," added NASA.
Once NISAR is in orbit, it can inform NASA about sudden surface changes across the globe. This will help the space union and its partners to formulate plans that can help them address the geographical changes on Earth.
NISAR's Details
Aside from the two radar systems of NASA and ISRO, NISAR will also have the largest antenna of its kind.
This radar antenna is a drum-shaped wire mesh reflector, which is 40 feet in diameter; extending from a 30-foot boom.
NISAR will rely on synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a technology that can create HD images from a resolution-limited radar system.
SAR can surpass the physical limitations of resolution in space, leading to high-caliber images and scientific data.
As of writing, NASA and ISRO are still preparing NISAR for its launch. This advanced orbital radar system is expected to be launched as early as 2024.
If you want to learn more about the new NISAR, you can visit this link.
In other news, the detailed NASA solar eclipse map, which chose the eclipses in 2023 and 2024, was unveiled.
We also reported about NASA's $27 billion budget, which could be provided by the White House in 2024.
For more news updates about NASA and its upcoming space innovations, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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