It may look like any other picture of a silicon chip, but this one’s rather special: It’s the centrepiece of a new 94 GHz radar system being developed by the European Space Agency, that will transform radar systems in space missions.
The new hardware is being developed in Ireland by a company called Arralis. Its high resolution will, according to the Agency, make planetary landings far safer, as it’ll allow craft to image smaller obstacles on landing zones than current systems allow. So, it might just prevent another Philae moment.
The benefits aren’t, apparently, limited to space, though. Arralis claims that what it’s learned during the development of the chip could be applied to terrestrial wi-fi systems. And space-age wireless is something we can all probably get behind.
[ESA]
