Mini-RF Overview

  • Mini-RF Patch

    Overview

    The Mini-RF project will fly two radar instruments to the moon to map the lunar poles, search for water ice, and to demonstrate future NASA communication technologies. The first instrument launched on the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO’s) Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft and will map both polar regions. The second instrument will fly on NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and will perform targeted radar observations and communications demonstrations.

News and Events

  • Image of the crater Erlanger

    NASA And ISRO Satellites Perform In Tandem To Search For Ice On The Moon

    NASA and ISRO will attempt a novel joint experiment that could yield more information on whether ice exists in a permanently shadowed crater near the north pole of the moon.

  • the Mini-RF instrument flying on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was successfully turned on for the first time in flight

    NASA Radar Tandem Searches For Ice On The Moon

    With the Mini-RF instrument flying aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, the space agency now has two powerful tools searching for ice on the moon.

  • LRO launch

    NASA Returning to the Moon with First Lunar Launch in a Decade

    NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launched at 5:32 p.m. EDT Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will relay more information about the lunar environment than any other previous mission to the moon.

  • The crater Rozhdestvensky K

    Mini-SAR Nears Completion of First Mapping Cycle

    The Mini-SAR imaging radar aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter has been sending back some amazing images for the last couple of months. With the mission's first radar mapping season nearing an end, scientists are looking at and evaluating the data in hand. Read a first-hand account from Instrument Principal Investigator Paul Spudis.

Instrument Status

    June 23, 2009

    Chandrayaan-1: Mini-SAR has completed its first polar-imaging campaign. We've mapped more than 90% of both poles during this imaging campaign.

    Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter: The second Mini-RF Instrument has successfully performed its "aliveness" test as part of the ongoing LRO commissioning activity. This completed the initial activation of all 7 LRO payloads. The first LRO Mini-RF image has now been posted.

Quick Facts

    Mini-SAR on Chandrayaan-1

    • Launch: October 22, 2008 00:52:02 UTC
    • Launch Vehicle: Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, India
    • Launch Site: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, India
    • Lunar Orbit: 100 km, polar
    • Mission Duration: 2 years
    • Resolution: 150 meters

    Mini-RF on LRO

    • Launch: June 18th at 5:32 p.m. EDT
    • Launch Vehicle: Atlas V
    • Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center, Florida
    • Lunar Orbit: 50 km, polar
    • Mission Duration: 1 year
    • Resolution: 150 meters & 30 meters

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