--- title: "Radio Telescope Is So Powerful It Can See the Surface of Other Worlds" description: "Thanks to a new upgrade made to the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, scientists are able to get an unprecedented look nearby celestial objects." date: "2021-02-09" modified: "2021-02-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/radio-telescope-surface-other-worlds" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "green bank telescope" - "radio telescope" - "the digest" - "Very Large Array" --- # Radio Telescope Is So Powerful It Can See the Surface of Other Worlds ![Thanks to a new upgrade made to the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, scientists are able to get an unprecedented look nearby celestial objects.]() *\Image: NRAO/GBO/RAYTHEON/NSF/AUI\* ## Moony Shot Thanks to a new upgrade to the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia, the world's biggest fully steerable radio telescope, scientists are able to [get an unprecedented look]() at the surface of near-Earth celestial objects. In a proof-of-concept test, scientists were able to use the telescope to obtain images of the Apollo 15 moon landing site, showing objects as small as five meters across. A new radio transmitter developed by military contractor Raytheon allowed the GBT to send out radio signals that were then received by the continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a 27-antenna system in Hawaii. This data was then used by scientists to create high-resolution radar imagery, a culmination of two years of research. Prior to the upgrade, the GBT was only a receiver of radio signals. "When the reflected signal comes back, you can use it to create an image of the object the signal was bounced from," Dave Finley, spokesman for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, [told the *Albuquerque Journal*](). ## Bigger Transmitter Using data collected during the test, scientists are hoping to build a 500-kilowatt radar system, including an even beefier transmitter, that can make observations of other more distant objects as far as Uranus and Neptune with unprecedented detail and sensitivity. "The planned system will be a leap forward in radar science, allowing access to never before seen features of the Solar System from right here on Earth," Karen O’Neil, the Green Bank Observatory site director, said in [a statement](). "And by using multiple, widely separated antennas of the VLBA to receive the reflected signals, we’ll likely be able to make 3-D images," Finley told the *Albuquerque Journal*. **READ MORE:** [Successful High-Resolution Moon Imaging Test Paves Way for New Planetary Radar]() \[National Radio Astronomy Observatory\] **More on high-resolution imagery:** *[NASA Funds Giant Radio Telescope Concept on Far Side of Moon]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()