Radar signal bounced off SunIn 1959, the first distinguishable echo was recorded of a radar signal bounced off the Sun—considered a milestone in the emerging field of radar astronomy. A three-person team from the Radioscience Laboratory, Stamford University, led by electrical engineering Professor Von R. Eshleman, recorded an echo from the outer corona of the sun, 17 min. after transmission. They used an IBM computer for signal processing. The echo signal was extracted from a background noise 10,000 times greater due to the Sun's normal radio radiation. Earlier in 1959, a team at MIT had bounced a radar signal off Venus, 18 million miles away. The Stamford team set a new record distance with the Sun, a difficult target at 93 million miles away. Their accomplishment was published in Science (5 Feb 1960, p.329-33).« |
