Reflection of microwaves from the Moon

Abstract

The possibility of the reception of microwaves reflected by the Moon is considered theoretically. To increase the signal/noise ratio of the receiver, i. e. to raise the signal above noise-level, a special method of cumulation is proposed. The equipment developed according to the above principles is described, and the experimental method and results are discussed. The experiments show that electromagnetic waves of 2,5 m wave-length can pass through the ionosphere. The orders of magnitude of the absorption and dispersion in the ionosphere and the reflection coefficient of the Moon's surface are give by the experiment as expected. The success of the Moon experiment adds a most direct evidence to other experiments which confirm the validity of the Copernican view. © 1947 with the authors.