SHARAD's Icy Purview Of Mars

Antenna technology designed and built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has made it possible for a radar sounder instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to detect huge glaciers on the Red Planet covered by a layer of dust and rocks.

The antenna was developed by Astro Aerospace, a business unit of Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector, for the Italian Space Agency's SHAllow RADar (SHARAD) instrument. SHARAD probes below the Martian surface using radar waves in the 15-25 MHz frequency band for high-depth resolution. Scientists analyze the reflection of radar waves to characterize the Martian surface and subsurface layers of rocks, dust, and ice. A radar capable of seeing deeply requires a very large antenna such as SHARAD's, which is 10 meters (32.8 feet) in length but weighs less than three kilograms (6.6 lbs).

(Photo: courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corp.)