High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) is the major instrument on the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS). MIRAS is a planar antenna composed of a central body (the so-called hub) and three telescoping, deployable arms, in total 69 receivers on the Unit. Each receiver is composed of one LICEF module, which detects radiation in the microwave L-band, both in horizontal and vertical polarizations. The aperture on the LICEF detectors, planar in arrangement on MIRAS, point directly toward the Earth`s surface as the satellite orbits. The arrangement and orientation of MIRAS makes the instrument a 2-D interferometric radiometer. The MIRAS instrument`s prime contractor was EADS CASA Espacio, manufacturing the payload of SMOS under ESA`s contract.