The Mini-RF Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has a long and interesting history. Originally designed and flown as a technology demonstration aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in 2009, it continues to provide useful science information about the lunar surface and subsurface. This talk will give an overview of the instrument and its science objectives, as well as a detailed discussion on the bistatic SAR Lunar image formation process. In addition, we will describe a novel approach to estimating lunar surface composition using machine learning on the Mini-RF data.

Nick has degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Astronautical Engineering, and Physics. From 2013-2018, Nick was the chief engineer and co-founder of Clear Aspect Solutions (CAS), LLC. In 2018 Nick left CAS to join JHU/APL in pursuit of more scientifically oriented work as Senior Professional Staff in the Space Exploration Sector.