|
This is a photograph of the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) mated to Japan's Advanced Earth Observation Satellite (ADEOS) in a clean room at the Tsukuba Space Center, north of Tokyo. The NSCAT instrument is located on the forward end of the spacecraft and consists of six, 3-meter-long antennas that are shown at the top of the satellite in this photograph. Three electronic subsystems are located under the antennas. The instrument's mass is 280 kilograms and it uses 240 watts of power. NSCAT is a microwave radar that will measure both the speed and direction of winds over the global oceans. Scientists will use NSCAT's data to study ocean circulation, global climate change and regional weather patterns. The instrument will record data over 90 percent of the ice-free global oceans every two days during its three-year mission. The mission is the first major Earth resources collaboration between NASA and the Japanese Space Agency. The ADEOS spacecraft is the largest spacecraft Japan has developed. It is has a mass of 3,500 kilograms and generates 4.5 kilowatts of electrical power. The bus dimensions are 4 meters by 4 meters by 5 meters and, with the NSCAT antennas deployed, the spacecraft has a total height of 11 meters. It will be launched into a Sun- synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 797 kilometers by the Japanese H-II rocket on July 31, 1996, at 6:15 pm Pacific Daylight Time. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the NSCAT instrument for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth. #####
Description
This is a photograph of the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) mated to Japan's Advanced Earth Observation Satellite (ADEOS) in a clean room at the Tsukuba Space Center, north of Tokyo. The NSCAT instrument is located on the forward end of the spacecraft and consists of six, 3-meter-long antennas that are shown at the top of the satellite in this photograph. Three electronic subsystems are located under the antennas. The instrument's mass is 280 kilograms and it uses 240 watts of power. NSCAT is a microwave radar that will measure both the speed and direction of winds over the global oceans. Scientists will use NSCAT's data to study ocean circulation, global climate change and regional weather patterns. The instrument will record data over 90 percent of the ice-free global oceans every two days during its three-year mission. The mission is the first major Earth resources collaboration between NASA and the Japanese Space Agency. The ADEOS spacecraft is the largest spacecraft Japan has developed. It is has a mass of 3,500 kilograms and generates 4.5 kilowatts of electrical power. The bus dimensions are 4 meters by 4 meters by 5 meters and, with the NSCAT antennas deployed, the spacecraft has a total height of 11 meters. It will be launched into a Sun- synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 797 kilometers by the Japanese H-II rocket on July 31, 1996, at 6:15 pm Pacific Daylight Time. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the NSCAT instrument for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth. #####
Description
|
