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1st echo from Sharad, radar instrument built by Alcatel for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission

19 September 2006

Alcatel Alenia Space is proud to announce that its Italian operation center has received the first echo from Sharad (Shallow Subsurface Radar), the radar sounder on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission. The Sharad instrument, realized by industrial and institutional partners comprising Alcatel Alenia Space, ASI (the Italian Space Agency) and Infocom (Radar Department, La Sapienza University), aims at exploring the subsurface and surface of Mars in order to identify layers of ice or water.

In addition to providing the MRO's radar, Alcatel Alenia Space has also designed the Sharad Operation Centre based in its Rome facility, from where the mission has been monitored in cooperation with La Sapienza University. Radar images received from Sharad will then be analyzed by scientists and will contribute to search for suitable locations of future probes landing on Mars.

Alcatel Alenia Space played a key role in previous Mars exploration missions. The company has already designed and manufactured Marsis, the radar embarked on the Mars Express probe which is currently in orbit, and that has already revealed the presence of traces of water in the sub-soil of the planet. The role of Sharad is going beyond this. It will provide a more accurate map of ice and water distribution in Mars upper surface layers by analyzing its surface with a resolution ten times that of Marsis.
The MRO mission will enable science operations during the next two Earth years. It will pave the way for future spacecraft by monitoring daily weather and surface conditions, studying potential landing sites, and testing a new telecommunications system. Sharad uses high frequency radio waves between 15 and 25 MHz, a range enabling to resolve layers as thin as 7m to a maximum depth of 1 km. It will have a horizontal resolution of between 0.3 and 3 km and a vertical resolution of 15 meters in free space.

Carlo Alberto Penazzi, CEO of Alcatel Alenia Space in Italy said : "The radar instruments built by Alcatel Alenia Space play a leading role in the study and exploration of Mars. Alcatel Alenia Space, with its excellent technology, is making a significant contribution to the knowledge of the red planet, enabling progress in one of the main space program of the next few years".

About Alcatel Alenia Space
Alcatel Alenia Space is the European leader in satellite systems and at the forefront of orbital infrastructures. Created in July 2005, the company brings together the vast experience and know-how of Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio to form a new leading force in European space technology. Alcatel Alenia Space represents a worldwide standard for space development that impacts everybody's future: from navigation to telecommunications, from meteorology to environmental monitoring, from defense to science and observation. Alcatel Alenia Space is an affiliate of Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) (67%) and Finmeccanica (Milan:SIFI.MI, FNC.IM) (33%).