BOREAS: Detecting planetary subsurface water
Abstract
Direct detection of water on planets beyond Earth has always been a primary goal for space exploration. Our “Boreas” project focuses on the integration of a student-designed S-Band Radar-based water detection system, which is capable of ice penetration. For improved reliability, the system is equipped with an automatic attitude determination and control subsystem. The Boreas project aims to design, test, and fabricate a small-scale radar capable of seeing through substantial layers of ice or other material covering a given body of water. Our orbiting radar will be able to orient itself to the planet during flyby and maintain nadir orientation as the sensing subsystem takes in subsurface data. This design was inspired by Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is known to harbor subsurface high-salinity oceans and further motivated by the recent exciting discovery of liquid water on Mars. The opportunities for application of the Boreas orbiter are numerous.
BOREAS: Detecting planetary subsurface water
Direct detection of water on planets beyond Earth has always been a primary goal for space exploration. Our “Boreas” project focuses on the integration of a student-designed S-Band Radar-based water detection system, which is capable of ice penetration. For improved reliability, the system is equipped with an automatic attitude determination and control subsystem. The Boreas project aims to design, test, and fabricate a small-scale radar capable of seeing through substantial layers of ice or other material covering a given body of water. Our orbiting radar will be able to orient itself to the planet during flyby and maintain nadir orientation as the sensing subsystem takes in subsurface data. This design was inspired by Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is known to harbor subsurface high-salinity oceans and further motivated by the recent exciting discovery of liquid water on Mars. The opportunities for application of the Boreas orbiter are numerous.