Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Raytheon and the National Science Foundation radio astronomy facilities to detect dark asteroids in space.
Credit: Raytheon

A new collaboration to detect and characterize near-Earth asteroids large enough to cause significant damage melds together radio astronomy and radar techniques.

The new agreement brings together the talents of Raytheon and the National Science Foundation radio astronomy facilities to detect dark asteroids in space.

Radar imagery

100m Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope.
Credit: Green Bank Observatory

The Raytheon-NRAO/GBO collaboration will integrate a radar transmitter into the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia and use the National Science Foundation’s far-flung Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) as a receiver to provide a very detailed radar image.

The GBT and the VLBA will each point at the same celestial body, such as the Moon, to conduct radar experiments. This approach increases the probability of detection and characterization of objects out to the orbit of Jupiter and possibly farther.

New capabilities

“Very energetic dusty asteroids – we’re talking from several hundred feet to miles in size – don’t reflect sunlight very well, and that makes them incredibly difficult, if not impossible to detect in our solar system,” said Art Morrish, vice president, Raytheon Advanced Concepts & Technologies in a company statement.

“We’re collaborating with the [National Radio Astronomy Observatory] NRAO to combine radio astronomy and radar techniques to bring new capabilities to the astronomical community to solve problems like this,” Morrish added.

Credit: Green Bank Observatory

Next-generation

Tony Beasley, director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Associated Universities Inc. vice president for Radio Astronomy Operations stated: “This partnership between Raytheon and NRAO/GBO is one of several promising research and technology collaborations we’re exploring that may greatly benefit our next-generation Very Large Array project.”

The NRAO and the Green Bank Observatory are facilities of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.