The National Committee for Space Activities (CONAE) and the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAA RAS) successfully conducted an experiment on the bipolar intercontinental radar observations of Venus.from which the continuous wave resonance power spectra of the planet’s surface were obtained, allowing to estimate the period of its rotation and the radar characteristics of its surface.
Operations included the modern 35-meter diameter antenna of the CLTC-CONAE-NEUQUÉN . deep space stationlocated near the town of Bajada del Agrio, Neuquén Province, Argentina, and the 13.2-meter Radio Telescope (RT-13) of the Svetloi Radio Astronomy Observatory of the Russian Quasar Network. The CLTC antenna beamed Venus, which is located about 44 million km from Earth, with a signal at a frequency of 7,190 MHz (4.2 cm). Five minutes later, the RT-13 antenna began to receive echo signals.
In the future, it is planned to obtain radar images of the surface of Venus, covered with a dense layer of clouds that block visible light but are transparent to radio waves. Yury Bondarenko, Head of the Radar Astronomy Team at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said:. At that time, the same methodology that was used in 2021 to obtain a stable binary image of the lunar surface will be applied.
The experiment with Venus is part of the dual static radar activities promoted by CONAE and IAA RAS to observe the closest celestial bodies to Earth, such as the Moon, Venus, Mars and asteroids, using deep space antennas installed in Argentina, in the provinces of Neuquén and Mendoza.. Especially, “Venus is of interest to research because it is our neighboring planet, which we must know in depth, with the tools available in the country,” said Stanislav Makarchuk., in charge of the International Cooperation Area in Exploration of the Universe at CONAE, which coordinated the experiment on the Argentine side. “Currently only CONAE and IAA RAS are developing this methodology in the world,” he emphasized.
Echoes of the energy spectra of the continuous wave from the surface of Venus.
deep space stations
In the Argentine provinces of Mendoza and Neuquén, there are two stations to monitor deep space exploration missions, resulting from the agreements reached between Konai and the European Space Agency (ESA), in one case, and in another with China. The antennas of these facilities are 35 meters in diameter, providing support for missions traveling more than 300,000 kilometers from Earth.
In 2012, the first station was opened, which was called Deep Space 3 (DS3), located in Malargüe, Mendoza province and built under an agreement between Argentina and ESA. The CLTC-CONAENEUQUÉN Deep Space Station began operations in 2018, based on inter-institutional agreements between the Chinese Satellite Launch and General Tracking Control (CLTC) and CONAE, Neuquén Province, and the governments of Argentina and the People’s Republic of China.
Both agreements reached with China and with the European Space Agency include benefits for Argentina, which has 10% of the operational time of the antennas for conducting national scientific research and regional and international cooperation activities, radio astronomical observation and telemetry, and remote control and control. (TT&C) for interplanetary missions to deep space.
CLTC Deep Space Station Antenna – CONAE-NEUQUÉN, Bajada del Agrio, Neuquén Province.