How Does the Cassini RADAR Fit in the Context of Saturn Exploration?
No RADAR mapping instrument has ever been sent to the outer solar system. These instruments are primarily used to map solid surfaces that are obscured by hazy atmospheres: Venus and Earth. On Venus, the Magellan mission mapped the entire planet at a resolution of about 0.5 kilometer (1/3 mile) using Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging. On Earth, the Space Shuttle has carried the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) instrument aloft to map the Earth. However, both Magellan and SIR-C/X-SAR operated at longer radio wavelengths than the Cassini RADAR does. Magellan’s radar was operated in the S-band (13 cm wavelength), while SIR-C/X-SAR operated in L-band (23 cm wavelength), C-band (6 cm wavelength), and X-band (3 cm wavelength). Cassini’s radar is Ku-band, with a 2.2 cm wavelength. Therefore, there is no extant data that was captured under the same conditions as Cassini’s RADAR data, which means that scientists are venturing into uncharted territory as the
