  Recent measurements suggest free electrons created in ultra-high energy
cosmic ray extensive air showers (EAS) can interact with neutral air molecules
producing Bremsstrahlung radiation in the microwave regime. The microwave
radiation produced is expected to scale with the number of free electrons in
the shower, which itself is a function of the energy of the primary particle
and atmospheric depth. Using these properties a calorimetric measurement of the
EAS is possible. This technique is analogous to fluorescence detection with the
added benefit of a nearly 100% duty cycle and practically no atmospheric
attenuation. The Microwave Detection of Air Showers (MIDAS) prototype is
currently being developed at the University of Chicago. MIDAS consists of a 53
feed receiver operating in the 3.4 to 4.2 GHz band. The camera is deployed on a
4.5 meter parabolic reflector and is instrumented with high speed power
detectors and autonomous FPGA trigger electronics. We present the current
status of the MIDAS instrument and an outlook for future development.

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena