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Missouri River TOPSAR
This is a combined radar and …
11/6/95
Date 11/6/95
Description This is a combined radar and topography image of an area along the Missouri River that experienced severe flooding and levee failure in the summer of 1993. The meandering course of the Missouri River is seen as the dark curving band on the left side of the image. The predominantly blue area on the left half of the image is the river's flood plain, which was completely inundated during the flood of 1993. The colors in the image represent elevations, with the low areas shown in purple, intermediate areas in blue, green and yellow, and the highest areas shown in orange. The total elevation range is 85 meters (279 feet). The higher yellow and orange area on the right side of the image shows the topography and drainage patterns typical of this part of the midwestern United States. Dark streaks and bands in the flood plain are agricultural areas that were severely damaged by levee failures during the flooding. The region enclosed by the C-shaped bend in the river in the upper part of the image is Lisbon Bottoms. A powerful outburst of water from a failed levee on the north side of Lisbon Bottoms scoured a deep channel across the fields, which shows up as purple band. As the flood waters receded, deposits of sand and silt were left behind, which now appear as dark, smooth streaks in the image. The yellow areas within the blue, near the river, are clumps of trees sitting on slightly higher ground within the flood plain. The radar "sees' the treetops, and that is why they are so much higher (yellow) than the fields. The image was acquired by the NASA/JPL Topographic Synthetic Aperture Radar system (TOPSAR) that flew over the area aboard a DC-8 aircraft in August 1994. The elevations are obtained by a technique known as radar interferometry, in which the radar signals are transmitted by one antenna, and echoes are received by two antennas aboard the aircraft. The two sets of received signals are combined using computer processing to produce a topographic map. Similar techniques can be used to map the Earth's topography from satellites and from the space shuttle. The brightness of the image represents the radar backscatter at C-band, in the vertically transmitted and received polarization. The image is centered south of the town of Glasgow in central Missouri, at 39.1 degrees north latitude and 92.9 degrees west longitude. The area shown is about 5 km by 10 km (3.1 by 6.2 miles). Radar and topography data such as these are being used by scientists to more accurately assess the potential for future flooding in this region and how that might impact surrounding communities. Radar and interferometry processing for this image was performed at JPL, image generation was performed at Washington University, St. Louis.
SRTM/Swath Comparison
This image shows a 40-kilome …
7/15/96
Date 7/15/96
Description This image shows a 40-kilometer (25-mile) wide strip of digital topographic data superimposed on an optical photograph of the western United States. Both images were acquired during the STS-68 flight in October 1994. The digital data were acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture radar system, while the photograph was taken by the Space Shuttle astronauts. The view is looking to the east from above California's central valley (the dark area seen at the bottom of the image) across the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains to the basin and range province of western Nevada. In the strip of topographic data, the different colors indicate elevation, with green being lowest and white being highest. The swath covers blue-colored Lake Tahoe on the left (north) and Mono Lake on the right. For comparison, the white lines indicate the 225- kilometer (140-mile) wide swath that will be mapped in a single pass by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mapper (SRTM) instrument, now scheduled to fly on the Space Shuttle in May 2000. The ability to cover a swath this wide will allow SRTM to completely map all the land surface between plus and minus 60 degrees latitude in a single 11-day flight. This is about 80% of Earth's total land area. SRTM, is a cooperative project between NASA and the Defense Mapping Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense that will be managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth. #####
Cape Canaveral, FL
This radar images shows the …
10/9/97
Date 10/9/97
Description This radar images shows the east coast of central Florida, including the Cape Canaveral area. The Indian River, Banana River and the Atlantic Ocean are the three bodies of water (shown in deep blue) from the lower left to the upper right of this false color image. Parts of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) are visible. KSC occupies much of Merritt Island in the center of the image, as well as, the northern part of Cape Canaveral along the right side of the image. The light blue areas on Cape Canaveral are the launch pads used by NASA and the Air Force. The two pads in the upper left of the image (light blue hexagons with bright yellow areas in the middle) are Launch Complex 39 pads A and B, originally designed for the Apollo program and now used by the space shuttle. The other launch pads that dot the coastline are part of the CCAS and are used to launch robotic spacecraft, like the Cassini mission to Saturn which is scheduled to launch Oct. 13, 1997 and which also carries an imaging radar system. Two runways also appear as dark lines in the image. The runway in the upper left is part of the space shuttle landing facility and it is one of the longest runways in the world at 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) long and 91.4 meters (300 feet) wide. This image is centered at 28.5 degree North latitude, 80.63 degrees West longitude. The area shown is approximately 23 kilometers by 33 kilometers (14 miles by 20.5 miles). North is toward the upper left. Colors are assigned to different frequencies and polarizations of the radar as follows: red is L-band vertically transmitted and received, green is C-band vertically transmitted and received, and blue is the difference of L-band and C-band. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar when it flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour on Oct. 4, 1994. SIR-C/X-SAR is a joint mission of the U.S./German and Italian space agencies. #####
Patagonian Ice Field Flights …
This pair of images illustra …
6/1/95
Date 6/1/95
Description This pair of images illustrates the ability of multi-parameter radar imaging sensors such as the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X- band Synthetic Aperture radar to detect climate- related changes on the Patagonian ice fields in the Andes Mountains of Chile and Argentina. The images show nearly the same area of the south Patagonian ice field as it was imaged during two space shuttle flights in 1994 that were conducted five-and-a-half months apart. The images, centered at 49.0 degrees south latitude and 73.5 degrees west longitude, include several large outlet glaciers. The images were acquired by SIR-C/X-SAR on board the space shuttle Endeavour during April and October 1994. The top image was acquired on April 14, 1994, at 10:46 p.m. local time, while the bottom image was acquired on October 5,1994, at 10:57 p.m. local time. Both were acquired during the 77th orbit of the space shuttle. The area shown is approximately 100 kilometers by 58 kilometers (62 miles by 36 miles) with north toward the upper right. The colors in the images were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), blue represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). The overall dark tone of the colors in the central portion of the April image indicates that the interior of the ice field is covered with thick wet snow. The outlet glaciers, consisting of rough bare ice, are the brightly colored yellow and purple lobes which terminate at calving fronts into the dark waters of lakes and fiords. During the second mission the temperatures were colder and the corresponding change in snow and ice conditions is readily apparent by comparing the images. The interior of the ice field is brighter because of increased radar return from the dryer snow. The distinct green/orange boundary on the ice field indicates an abrupt change in the structure of the snowcap, a direct indication of the steep meteorological gradients known to exist in this region. The bluer color of the outlet glaciers is probably due to a thin snow cover. A portion of the terminus of the outlet glacier at the top left center of the images has advanced approximately 600 meters (1,970 feet) in the five-and-a- half months between the two missions. Because of the persistent cloud cover this observation was only possible by using the orbiting, remote imaging radar system. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth. The radars illuminate Earth with microwaves, allowing detailed observations at any time, regardless of weather or sunlight conditions. SIR-C/X-SAR uses three microwave wavelengths: L-band (24 cm), C-band (6 cm) and X-band (3 cm). The multi-frequency data will be used by the international scientific community to better understand the global environment and how it is changing. The SIR-C/X-SAR data, complemented by aircraft and ground studies, will give scientists clearer insights into those environmental changes which are caused by nature and those changes which are induced by human activity. SIR-C was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. X-SAR was developed by the Dornier and Alenia Spazio companies for the German space agency, Deutsche Agentur fuer Raumfahrtangelegenheiten (DARA), and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI), with the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fuer Luft und Raumfahrt e.v.(DLR), the major partner in science, operations and data processing of X-SAR. #####
Patagonian Ice Fields
title Patagonian Ice Fields
date 04.14.1994
description This pair of images illustrates the ability of multi-parameter radar imaging sensors such as the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture radar to detect climate- related changes on the Patagonian ice fields in the Andes Mountains of Chile and Argentina. The images show nearly the same area of the south Patagonian ice field as it was imaged during two space shuttle flights in 1994 that were conducted five-and-a-half months apart. The images, centered at 49.0 degrees south latitude and 73.5 degrees west longitude, include several large outlet glaciers. The images were acquired by SIR-C/X-SAR on board the space shuttle Endeavour during April and October 1994. The top image was acquired on April 14, 1994, at 10:46 p.m. local time, while the bottom image was acquired on October 5,1994, at 10:57 p.m. local time. Both were acquired during the 77th orbit of the space shuttle. The area shown is approximately 100 kilometers by 58 kilometers (62 miles by 36 miles) with north toward the upper right. The colors in the images were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), blue represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). The overall dark tone of the colors in the central portion of the April image indicates that the interior of the ice field is covered with thick wet snow. The outlet glaciers, consisting of rough bare ice, are the brightly colored yellow and purple lobes which terminate at calving fronts into the dark waters of lakes and fiords. During the second mission the temperatures were colder and the corresponding change in snow and ice conditions is readily apparent by comparing the images. The interior of the ice field is brighter because of increased radar return from the dryer snow. The distinct green/orange boundary on the ice field indicates an abrupt change in the structure of the snowcap, a direct indication of the steep meteorological gradients known to exist in this region. The bluer color of the outlet glaciers is probably due to a thin snow cover. A portion of the terminus of the outlet glacier at the top left center of the images has advanced approximately 600 meters (1,970 feet) in the five-and-a-half months between the two missions. Because of the persistent cloud cover this observation was only possible by using the orbiting, remote imaging radar system. P-45740
SRTM Data Release for Eurasi …
PIA03398
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Radar, X-Band Radar
Title SRTM Data Release for Eurasia, Index Map and Colored Height
Original Caption Released with Image The colored regions of this map show the extent of digital elevation data recently released by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This release includes data for most of Europe and Asia plus numerous islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. SRTM flew on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour in February 2000 and used an interferometric radar system to map the topography of Earth's landmass between latitudes 56 degrees south and 60 degrees north. The data were processed into geographic "tiles," each of which represents one by one degree of latitude and longitude. A degree of latitude measures 111 kilometers (69 miles) north-south, and a degree of longitude measures 111 kilometers or less east-west, decreasing away from the equator. The data are being released to the public on a continent-by-continent basis. This Eurasia segment includes 5,940 tiles, more than a third of the total data set. Previous releases covered North America and South America. Forthcoming releases will include Africa-Arabia and Australia plus an "Islands" release for those islands not included in the continental releases. Together these data releases constitute the world's first high-resolution, near-global elevation model. The resolution of the publicly released data is three arcseconds (1/1,200 of a degree of latitude and longitude), which is about 90 meters (295 feet). European coverage in the current data release stretches eastward from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west, across the Alps and Carpathian Mountains, as well as the Northern European Plain, to the Ural and Caucasus Mountains bordering Asia. The Asian coverage includes a great diversity of landforms, including the Tibetan Plateau, Tarin Basin, Mongolian Plateau, and the mountains surrounding Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake. Mt. Everest in the Himalayas, at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) is the world's highest mountain. From India's Deccan Plateau, to Southeast Asia, coastal China, and Korea, various landforms place constraints upon land use planning for a great population. Volcanoes in the East Indies, the Philippines, Japan, and the Kamchatka Peninsula form the western part of the "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific Ocean. Many of these regions were previously very poorly mapped due to persistent cloud cover or the inaccessibility of the terrain. Digital elevation data, such as provided by SRTM, are particularly in high demand by scientists studying earthquakes, volcanism, and erosion patterns for use in mapping and modeling hazards to human habitation. But the shape of Earth's surface affects nearly every natural process and human endeavor that occurs there, so elevation data are used in a wide range of applications. In this index map color-coding is directly related to topographic height, with green at the lower elevations, rising through yellow and tan, to white at the highest elevations. The large, very dark green feature in western Asia is the Caspian Sea, which is below sea, level. Blue areas on the map represent water within the mapped tiles, each of which includes shorelines or islands. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. Orientation: North toward the top Image Data: Colored SRTM elevation model Date Acquired: February 2000
SRTM Data Release for Africa …
PIA04965
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar …
Title SRTM Data Release for Africa, Colored Height
Original Caption Released with Image This color shaded relief image shows the extent of digital elevation data for Africa recently released by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). This release includes data for all of the continent, plus the island of Madagascar and the Arabian Peninsula. SRTM flew on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour in February 2000 and used an interferometric radar system to map the topography of Earth's landmass between latitudes 56 degrees south and 60 degrees north. The data were processed into geographic "tiles," each of which represents one by one degree of latitude and longitude. A degree of latitude measures 111 kilometers (69 miles) north-south, and a degree of longitude measures 111 kilometers or less east-west, decreasing away from the equator. The data are being released to the public on a continent-by-continent basis. This Africa segment includes 3256 tiles, almost a quarter of the total data set. Previous releases covered North America, South America and Eurasia. Forthcoming releases will include Australia plus an "Islands" release for those islands not included in the continental releases. Together these data releases constitute the world's first high-resolution, near-global elevation model. The resolution of the publicly released data is three arcseconds (1/1,200 of a degree of latitude and longitude), which is about 90 meters (295 feet). Coverage in the current data release extends from 35 degrees north latitude at the southern edge of the Mediterranean to the very tip of South Africa, encompassing a great diversity of landforms. The northern part of the continent consists of a system of basins and plateaus, with several volcanic uplands whose uplift has been matched by subsidence in the large surrounding basins. Many of these basins have been infilled with sand and gravel, creating the vast Saharan lands. The Atlas Mountains in the northwest were created by convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. The geography of the central latitudes of Africa is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, extending from Lake Nyasa to the Red Sea, and splitting into two arms to enclose an interior plateau and the nearly circular Lake Victoria, visible in the right center of the image. To the west lies the Congo Basin, a vast, shallow depression which rises to form an almost circular rim of highlands. Most of the southern part of the continent rests on a concave plateau comprising the Kalahari basin and a mountainous fringe, skirted by a coastal plain which widens out in Mozambique in the southeast. Many of these regions were previously very poorly mapped due to persistent cloud cover or the inaccessibility of the terrain. Digital elevation data, such as provided by SRTM, are particularly in high demand by scientists studying earthquakes, volcanism, and erosion patterns for use in mapping and modeling hazards to human habitation. But the shape of Earth's surface affects nearly every natural process and human endeavor that occurs there,, so elevation data are used in a wide range of applications. In this index map color-coding is directly related to topographic height, with brown and yellow at the lower elevations, rising through green, to white at the highest elevations. Blue areas on the map represent water within the mapped tiles, each of which includes shorelines or islands. Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, DC. Orientation: North toward the top, Mercator projection Image Data: Colored SRTM elevation model Date Acquired: February 2000
Space radar image of Mississ …
PIA01311
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
Title Space radar image of Mississippi River
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the Mississippi River in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana shows regions of the southern United States that are prone to flooding. Data acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture imaging radar system, which flew on two space shuttle missions in April and October 1994, can help scientists assess flooding potentials and improve land management for future agricultural development. This image was acquired on October 9, 1994, during orbit 151 of the space shuttle Endeavour. The image is centered at about 32.75 degrees north latitude and 90.5 degrees west longitude and covers an area of about 23 kilometers by 40 kilometers (14.2 miles by 24.8 miles). North is toward the upper right of the image. The different colors represent the data return in different radar channels: red is L-band, vertically transmitted and received, green is L-band vertically transmitted and horizontally received, and blue is C-band vertically transmitted and received. This site along the Mississippi River lies north of Vicksburg along the Arkansas-Louisiana-Mississippi state borders. The river marks the stateline. Louisiana and Arkansas lie above the river and Mississippi is below the river. This region is characterized by rich farmland where a variety of crops are grown. The town located in the extreme upper left hand corner is Eudora, Arkansas. The long, narrow lakes which lie roughly parallel to the river are called oxbow lakes, named for the U-shaped harness worn by an ox. Oxbows are formed when a river changes course, abandoning old channels in favor of a new course. As the river changes course, the surrounding land dries out, leaving these lakes isolated. Oxbow lakes are common in areas where rivers flow through generally flat terrain, allowing the river to easily change course. The green regions bordering the river are undeveloped forested areas
The vehicle carrying the Shu …
Description The vehicle carrying the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) arrives at the Multi-Payload Processing Facility. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Release Date 03/24/1999
Inside the Multi-Payload Pro …
Description Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the lid covering the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is lifted from the crate. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Release Date 03/24/1999
The Shuttle Radar Topography …
Description The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) sits inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility after the SRTM's cover was removed. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Release Date 03/24/1999
Inside the Multi-Payload Pro …
Description Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is revealed after the lid of its container was removed. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Release Date 03/24/1999
Inside the Multi-Payload Pro …
Description Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, the lid covering the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is lifted. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for September 1999. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. Its objective is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth
Release Date 03/24/1999
The move of the Shuttle Rada …
Description The move of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) is nearly complete as it is lowered onto the workstand in the Space Station Processing Facility. The SRTM, which is the primary payload on mission STS-99, consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for launch in September 1999. The objective of this radar system is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth. It will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will be making use of a technique called radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. To get two radar images taken from different locations, the SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 05/13/1999
Inside the Space Station Pro …
Description Inside the Space Station Processing Facility, workers at each end of a workstand watch as the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) begins its descent onto it. The SRTM, which is the primary payload on mission STS-99, consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission scheduled for launch in September 1999. The objective of this radar system is to obtain the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of the Earth. It will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will be making use of a technique called radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. To get two radar images taken from different locations, the SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 05/13/1999
STS-99 Mission Specialist Ja …
Description STS-99 Mission Specialist Janice Voss conducts a system verification test on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission in the Space Station Processing Facility. The primary payload on mission STS-99, the SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the Space Shuttle during the 11-day mission targeted for launch Sept. 16, 1999. This radar system will gather data for the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM is an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. SRTM will make use of radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. The SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 05/25/1999
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Viewed end to end, the interior of orbiter Endeavour's payload bay can be seen with its cargo (center and right) in place, before the close of its payload bay doors. The Ku-band antenna (lower right) is now in its closed position inside the payload bay. Endeavour is expected to roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building in three days for mating to the external tank and solid rocket boosters in high bay 1. Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch on mission STS-99 Jan. 13, 2000 at 1:11 p.m. EST. STS-99 is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. The SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will gather data for the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM will make use of radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. The SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 11/29/1999
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Orbiter Endeavour waits in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 for the closing of its payload bay doors. The Ku-band antenna (upper right) is still in the open position, outside the payload bay. Endeavour is expected to roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building in three days for mating to the external tank and solid rocket boosters in high bay 1. Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch on mission STS-99 Jan. 13, 2000 at 1:11 p.m. EST. STS-99 is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. The SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will gather data for the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM will make use of radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. The SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 11/29/1999
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - …
Description KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Orbiter Endeavour waits in the Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 for the closing of its payload bay doors. The Ku-band antenna (upper right) is now in its closed position inside the payload bay. Endeavour is expected to roll over to the Vehicle Assembly Building in three days for mating to the external tank and solid rocket boosters in high bay 1. Space Shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch on mission STS-99 Jan. 13, 2000 at 1:11 p.m. EST. STS-99 is the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, an international project spearheaded by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA, with participation of the German Aerospace Center DLR. The SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will gather data for the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled. SRTM will make use of radar interferometry, wherein two radar images are taken from slightly different locations. Differences between these images allow for the calculation of surface elevation, or change. The SRTM hardware will consist of one radar antenna in the shuttle payload bay and a second radar antenna attached to the end of a mast extended 60 meters (195 feet) out from the shuttle
Release Date 11/01/1999
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