Full-Scale Radar Image of Tycho Crater Released
January 10th, 2025

A full-scale radar image of Tycho crater on the Moon collected in March 2021 was released to the public. The image has 5 meter range resolution and includes over 500 million pixels.

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Second Redeployment of the 700 W Transmitter
December 9th, 2024

NRAO and Raytheon redeployed the refurbished low-power (700 W at 13.9 GHz) radar transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to exercise the end-to-end concept of operations for a radar system using the GBT and the Very Long Baseline Array.

Redeployment of the 700 W Transmitter
October 24th, 2024

NRAO and Raytheon redeployed the refurbished low-power (700 W at 13.9 GHz) radar transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to exercise the end-to-end concept of operations for a radar system using the GBT and the Very Long Baseline Array.

Annual Report Submitted
September 4th, 2024

The ngRADAR Project Office submitted its annual report for the supplemental funding from the NSF MSRI-1 program.

Additional Congressional Funding Approved
March 23rd, 2024

An additional ~$5M in funding for the ngRADAR project was included in the FY24 National Defense Appropriations Act by Congress.

Science Advisory Council Convened
December 13th, 2023

The ngRADAR Science Advisory Council (SAC) was convened for the first time following the external concept design review. The SAC, chaired by Paul Abell of NASA Johnson Space Center, will help the ngRADAR Project Office collect input from the science community on the direction and capabilities of the ngRADAR design.

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External Concept Design Review Passed
November 1st, 2023

The ngRADAR project passed its external concept design review. The panel, made up of esteemed colleagues from a range of institutions, laboratories, and universities provided the ngRADAR Project Office with valuable feedback on the state and direction of the project.

Annual Report Submitted
September 12th, 2023

The ngRADAR Project Office submitted its annual report for the second year of funding from the NSF MSRI-1 program.

Supplemental Funding Approved
June 9th, 2023

The NSF approved a supplemental award to the MSRI-1 grant for the ngRADAR project to continue concept design work with industry partner, Raytheon.

Internal Concept Design Review Passed
March 29th, 2023

The ngRADAR project passed its internal concept design review. The panel, made up of esteemed colleagues from within NRAO and Green Bank Observatory, provided the ngRADAR Project Office with valuable feedback on the state and direction of the project.

Announcement of Interest for the Science and Technical Advisory Councils
March 13th, 2023

The ngRADAR project requests participation from the science and technical radar community via membership on the ngRADAR Science Advisory Council (SAC) and Technical Advisory Council (TAC).

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Supplemental Funding Requested
March 2nd, 2023

The ngRADAR Project Office submitted a request for supplemental funding to the NSF MSRI-1 award to continue concept design work with industry partner, Raytheon.

Annual Report Submitted
June 12th, 2022

The ngRADAR Project Office submitted its annual report for the first year of funding from the NSF MSRI-1 program. Positive review of the annual report released funding for the second year of the award.

ngRADAR Kicks Off Activities
November 2nd, 2021

NRAO, Green Bank Observatory (GBO), and Raytheon kicked off activities for the ngRADAR concept design funded through an NSF Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI-1) award at a workshop held at GBO from November 2-4, 2021.

ngRADAR Proposal Selected
October 29th, 2021

NSF approved the proposal from NRAO, Green Bank Observatory, and Raytheon to the Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI-1) program, awarding funding over two years to develop ngRADAR as the concept design for a high-power, high-frequency radar system using the Green Bank Telescope and the Very Long Baseline Array.

ngRADAR Proposal Submitted
May 12th, 2021

NRAO, Green Bank Observatory, and Raytheon submitted a proposal to the NSF Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (MSRI-1) program to fund the concept design of a high-power, high-frequency radar transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope with reception of echoes by the Very Long Baseline Array. The concept would add new radar capabilities to NSF facilities.

Another Successful Proof-of-Concept Observing Campaign
March 21st, 2021

The second deployment of the 700 W transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) lasted from March 15-21, 2021, again concentrating on commissioning the instrument and imaging of the Moon as a nearby, bright target of interest. The scheduling of this observing campaign also allowed for the detection of near-Earth asteroid (231937) 2001 FO32, another first for the GBT, as the asteroid made a close flyby of Earth, about 2 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) away or just over five times farther away than the Moon. Some results from this campaign can be found under the Science and Documents tabs.

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Successful Proof-of-Concept Observing Campaign
November 12th, 2020

The first scientific deployment of the 700 W radar transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope was from November 10-12, 2020, concentrating on commissioning the instrument and imaging of the Moon as a nearby, bright target of interest. Some results from this campaign can be found under the Science and Documents tabs.

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700 W Transmitter Deployed
November 4th, 2020

NRAO, GBO, and industry partner Raytheon deployed a low-power, Ku-band (700 W at 13.9 GHz) transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope. Commissioning and first light occurred in early November 2020, marking the first radar transmissions made from the GBT.

Green Bank Observatory Workshop
June 9th, 2015

Consideration for a transmitter on the Green Bank Telescope gains traction at a workshop on the Future of Planetary Radio Astronomy with Single-Dish Telescopes held at Green Bank Observatory.

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