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Mir Dreams
| Title |
Mir Dreams |
| Explanation |
This dream-like image of Mir [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/mir/ ] was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Rockets/ShuttleNames.asp ] approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-76/ index.html ]. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels, Mir resembles a whimsical flying insect hovering about 350 kilometers above New Zealand's [ http://www.rasnz.org.nz/index.htm ] South Island and the city of Nelson [ http://webnz.com/nelsonarts/foundations.html ], near Cook Strait [ http://www.south-pole.com/p0000071.htm ]. In late March 1996, Atlantis shuttled astronaut Shannon W. Lucid [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lucid.html ] to Mir for a five month visit, increasing Mir's occupancy from 2 to 3. It returned to pick Lucid up and drop off astronaut John Blaha [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/blaha.html ] during the STS-79 mission [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-79/mission-sts-79.html ] in August of that year. Since becoming operational in 1986, Mir has [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/mir/mirvis.html ] been visited by over 100 spacefarers from the nations of planet Earth including, Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Austria, Kazakhstan and Slovakia. After joint Shuttle-Mir [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/ ] training missions in support of the International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html ], continuous occupation of Mir ended in August 1999. Mir is still in orbit and its operation is now being pursued by commercial interests [ http://www.mirstation.com/index.html ]. |
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Mir Dreams
| Title |
Mir Dreams |
| Explanation |
This dream [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/day.html ]-like image of Mir [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/tour.html ] was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle Atlantis [ http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Rockets/ShuttleNames.asp ] approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels, Mir resembles a whimsical flying insect hovering about 350 kilometers above New Zealand's [ http://www.rasnz.org.nz/index.htm ] South Island and the city of Nelson near Cook Strait [ http://www.south-pole.com/p0000071.htm ]. In late March 1996, Atlantis shuttled astronaut Shannon W. Lucid [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lucid.html ] to Mir for a five month visit, increasing Mir's occupancy from 2 to 3. It returned to pick Lucid up and drop off astronaut John Blaha [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/blaha.html ] during the STS-79 mission [ http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-79/mission-sts-79.html ] in August of that year. Since becoming operational in 1986, Mir has [ http://www.cosmicimages.com/Mir/index.html ] been visited by over 100 spacefarers from the nations of planet Earth including, Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Austria, Kazakhstan and Slovakia. After joint Shuttle-Mir [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/ ] training missions in support of the International Space Station [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html ], continuous occupation of Mir ended in August 1999. The Mir was deorbited [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010323.html ] in March 2001. |
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Mir Dreams
| Title |
Mir Dreams |
| Explanation |
This dream [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/day.html ]-like image of Mir [ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/tour.html ] was recorded by astronauts as the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis [ http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Rockets/ShuttleNames.asp ] approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission in 1996. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels, Mir resembles a whimsical flying insect hovering about 350 kilometers above New Zealand's [ http://www.rasnz.org.nz/index.htm ] South Island and the city of Nelson near Cook [ http://www.south-pole.com/p0000071.htm ] Strait. Mir was launched 20 years ago [ http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html ] this week, and served as a continuously occupied orbital outpost [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/ ] until August 1999. Mir was visited by over 100 spacefarers from the nations of planet Earth including, Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Austria, Kazakhstan and Slovakia. The Mir was deorbited [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010323.html ] in March 2001. |
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Space Radar Image of Oetzal,
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PIA01704
Sol (our sun)
| Title |
Space Radar Image of Oetzal, Austria |
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Space radar image of Mount E
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PIA01301
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Space radar image of Mount Everest |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
These are two comparison images of Mount Everest and its surroundings, along the border of Nepal and Tibet. The peak of Mount Everest, the highest elevation on Earth at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet), can be seen near the center of each image. The image at the top was acquired through thick cloud cover by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 16, 1994. The image on the bottom is an optical photograph taken by the Endeavour crew under clear conditions during the second flight of SIR-C/X-SAR on October 10, 1994. Both images show an area approximately 70 kilometers by 38 kilometers (43 miles by 24 miles) that is centered at 28.0 degrees north latitude and 86.9 degrees east longitude. North is toward the upper left. The colors in the radar image were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received), blue represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). Radar illumination is from the top of the frame. The optical photograph has been geometrically adjusted to better match the area shown in the radar image. Many features of the Himalayan terrain are visible in both images. Snow covered areas appear white in the optical photograph while the same areas appear bright blue in the radar image. The radar image was taken in early spring and shows deep snow cover, while the optical photograph was taken in late summer and shows minimum snow cover. The curving and branching features seen in both images are glaciers. The two wavelengths and multiple polarizations of the SIR-C radar are sensitive to characteristics of the glacier surfaces that are not detected by conventional photography, such as the ice roughness, water content and stratification. For this reason, the glaciers show a variety of colors in the radar image (blue, purple, red, yellow, white) but only appear as gray or white in the photograph. Field data from other SIR-C/X-SAR test sites, such as the Alpine glaciers of Austria, are being used to help interpret data from remote regions like Mount Everest. |
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Space Radar Image of Oetzal,
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PIA01760
Sol (our sun)
| Title |
Space Radar Image of Oetzal, Austria |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
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., This is a digital elevation model that was geometrically coded directly onto an X-band seasonal change image of the Oetztal supersite in Austria. The image is centered at 46.82 degrees north latitude and 10.79 degrees east longitude. This image is located in the Central Alps at the border between Switzerland, Italy and Austria, 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of Innsbruck. It was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on April 14, 1994 and on October 5, 1994. It was produced by combining data from these two different data sets. Data obtained in April is green, data obtained in October appears in red and blue, and was used as an enhancement based on the ratio of the two data sets. Areas with a decrease in backscatter from April to October appear in light blue (cyan), such as the large Gepatschferner glacier seen at the left of the image center, and most of the other glaciers in this view. A light blue hue is also visible at the east border of the dark blue Lake Reschensee at the upper left side. This shows a significant rise in the water level. Magenta represents areas with an increase of backscatter from April 10 to October 5. Yellow indicates areas with high radar signal response during both passes, such as the mountain slopes facing the radar. Low radar backscatter signals refer to smooth surface (lakes) or radar grazing areas to radar shadow areas, seen in the southeast slopes. The area is approximately 29 kilometers by 21 kilometers (18 miles by 13.5 miles). The summit of the main peaks reaches elevations of 3,500 to 3,768 meters (xx feet to xx feet)above sea level. The test site's core area is the glacier region of Venter Valley, which is one of the most intensively studied areas for glacier research in the world. Research in Venter Valley (below center)includes studies of glacier dynamics, glacier-climate regions, snowpack conditions and glacier hydrology. About 25 percent of the core test site is covered by glaciers. Corner reflectors are set up for calibration. Five corner reflectors can be seen on the Gepatschferner and two can be seen on the Vernagtferner. 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 |
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Budapest, Hungary, Perspecti
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PIA04952
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar
| Title |
Budapest, Hungary, Perspective View, SRTM Elevation Model with Landsat Overlay |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(Landsat), After draining the northern flank of the Alps Mountains in Germany and Austria, the Danube River flows east as it enters this west-looking scene (upper right) and forms the border between Slovakia and Hungary. The river then leaves the border as it enters Hungary and transects the Transdanubian Mountains, which trend southwest to northeast. Upon exiting the mountains, the river turns southward, flowing past Budapest (purplish blue area) and along the western margin of the Great Hungarian Plain. South and west of the Danube, the Transdanubian Mountains have at most only about 400 meters (about 1300 feet) of relief but they exhibit varied landforms, which include volcanic, tectonic, fluvial (river), and eolian (wind) features. A thick deposit of loess (dust deposits likely blown from ancient glacial outwash) covers much of this area, and winds from the northwest, funneled between the Alps and the Carpathian Mountains, are apparently responsible for a radial pattern of erosional streaks across the entire region. This image was generated from a Landsat satellite image draped over an elevation model produced by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The view uses a 3-times vertical exaggeration to enhance topographic expression. The false colors of the scene result from displaying Landsat bands 1, 4, and 7 in blue, green, and red, respectively. Band 1 is visible blue light, but bands 4 and 7 are reflected infrared light. This band combination maximizes color contrasts between the major land cover types, namely vegetation (green), bare ground (red), and water (blue). Shading of the elevation model was used to further highlight the topographic features. 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. View Size: 133 kilometers (82 miles) wide, 90 kilometers (56 miles) distance Location: 47.5 degrees North latitude, 19.0 degrees East longitude Orientation: Looking West, 15 degrees down from horizontal, 3X vertical exaggeration Image Data: Landsat Bands 1, 4, 7 as blue, green, red respectively Date Acquired: February 2000 (SRTM), October 11, 1990 |
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False-color composite of Oet
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| Title |
False-color composite of Oetztal, Austria |
| Description |
This image is a false-color composite of Oetztal, Austria located in the Central Alps centered at 46.8 degrees north latitude, 10.70 degrees east longitude, at the border between Switzerland (top), Italy (left) and Austria (right and bottom). The area shown is 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Inssbruck, Austria. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperature Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its 14th orbit. Approximately one quarter of this image is covered by glaciers, the largest of which, Gepatschferner, is visible as a triangular yellow patch in the center of the scene. The blue areas are lakes (Gepatsch dam at center right, Lake Muta at top right) and glacier ice. The yellow areas are slopes facing the radar and areas of dry snow. Purple corresponds to slopes facing away from the radar. Yellow in the valley bottom corresponds to tree covered areas. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory alternative photo number is P-43890. |
| Date Taken |
1994-04-13 |
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