NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

The Shuttle Launches an Inflatable Antenna

High above the Earth [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the Space Shuttle Endeavor [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] launches a new type of instrument - an inflatable antenna. The officially designated Inflatable Antenna Experiment [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] was released Monday, May 20th, as part of a Spartan [ http://sspp.gsfc.na…] satellite - which contains many scientific experiments. The antenna is roughly the size of a tennis court and is even visible from Earth [ http://shuttle.nasa…]. At the end of the mission, the antenna will be jettisoned while the rest of the Spartan is recovered by the Shuttle. The function of an antenna is to broadcast radio messages, and the large dish at the end helps focus radio waves into a narrow beam which can be detected over long distances.

STS-77 Crew [ http://shuttle.nasa…], Space Shuttle Endeavor [ http://shuttle.nasa…], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Earth

IAE

Beam

Space Shuttle Orbiter

http://antwrp.gsfc.…

SPD-APOD-ap960525