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Search Results: All Fields similar to 'Space and Shuttle' and What equal to 'Earth'
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Making News
At NASA's Kennedy Space Cent
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8/3/09
| Description |
At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the STS-127 crew members take part in a news conference following their return to Earth on space shuttle Endeavour after the 16-day mission to the International Space Station. From left are Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, Tom Marshburn and Dave Wolf, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, who spent four months on the space station and returned on Endeavour. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett July 31, 2009 |
| Date |
8/3/09 |
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STS-127 Crew Back on Earth
The STS-127 crew pause on th
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8/3/09
| Description |
The STS-127 crew pause on the runway next to space shuttle Endeavour after their landing that completed the 16-day, 6.5-million mile journey on the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station. This was the 71st landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander Mark Polansky spoke to spectators and media gathered on the runway, thanking all the workers for their joint efforts that made the mission a success. Behind Polansky are Mission Specialists Christopher Cassidy and Tom Marshburn, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Julie Payette and Dave Wolf. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett July 31, 2009 |
| Date |
8/3/09 |
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Space Shuttle -- March 1979
Taking advantage of a brief
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8/5/08
| Description |
Taking advantage of a brief period of microgravity afforded aboard a KC-135 flying a parabolic curve, the flight crew of the first space shuttle orbital flight test (STS-1) goes through a spacesuit-donning exercise. Astronaut John W. Young has just entered the hard-material torso of the shuttle spacesuit by approaching it from below. He is assisted by astronaut Robert L. Crippen. The torso is held in place by a special stand here, simulating the function provided by the airlock wall aboard the actual shuttle craft. The life support system is mated to the torso on Earth and remains attached to the torso during the flight. |
| Date |
8/5/08 |
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Orbiting Alone
Backdropped by a blue and wh
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3/27/09
| Description |
Backdropped by a blue and white Earth and the blackness of space, Space Shuttle Discovery's docking mechanism (top foreground), payload bay, Remote Manipulator System Orbiter Boom Sensor System (RMS/OBSS), vertical stabilizer and orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods are featured in this image photographed by a STS-119 crewmember during flight day 12 activities. Photo credit: NASA March 26, 2009 |
| Date |
3/27/09 |
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Space Shuttle -- April 1983
Astronauts F. Story Musgrave
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7/18/08
| Description |
Astronauts F. Story Musgrave, left, and Donald H. Peterson float in the cargo bay of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Challenger during their April 7, 1983 extravehicular activity on the STS-6 mission. Their "floating" is restricted via tethers to safety slide wires. Thanks to the tether and slide wire combination, Peterson is able to translate, or move, along the port side hand rails. |
| Date |
7/18/08 |
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Space Shuttle -- November 19
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Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, g
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7/29/08
| Description |
Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, getting his turn in the Manned Maneuvering Unit, prepares to dock with the spinning WESTAR VI satellite during the STS-51A mission. Gardner used a large tool called the Apogee Kick Motor Capture Device to enter the nozzle of a spent WESTAR VI engine and stabilize the communications spacecraft sufficiently to capture it for return to Earth in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Discovery. |
| Date |
7/29/08 |
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Space Shuttle Main Engine Te
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NASA's John C. Stennis Space
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1/1/96
| Description |
NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss., is NASA's lead center for rocket propulsion testing. Stennis Space Center tests all main engines that power the Space Shuttle into low-Earth orbit. Shown here is a test firing of a powerful main engine on the B-1 test stand at Stennis. |
| Date |
1/1/96 |
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Atlantis' Window on the Worl
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Solar panels on the Hubble S
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5/19/09
| Description |
Solar panels on the Hubble Space Telescope make for unique window shades in this scene photographed from the flight deck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle... |
| Date |
5/19/09 |
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Atlantis' Window on the Worl
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Solar panels on the Hubble S
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5/19/09
| Description |
Solar panels on the Hubble Space Telescope make for unique window shades in this scene photographed from the flight deck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle... |
| Date |
5/19/09 |
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X-38
One of NASA's three X-38 Cre
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11/4/09
| Description |
One of NASA's three X-38 Crew Return Vehicle technology demonstrators that flew at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., a decade ago has found a new home in America's heartland. In this image from test flights in 1999, the X-38 research vehicle drops away from NASA's B-52 mothership immediately after being released from the B-52's wing pylon. More than 30 years earlier, this same B-52 launched the original lifting-body vehicles flight tested by NASA and the Air Force at what is now called the Dryden Flight Research Center and the Air Force Flight Test Center. The wingless lifting body craft was transferred this past weekend from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to the Strategic Air and Space Museum, located just off Interstate 80 at Ashland, Neb., about 20 miles southeast of Omaha. The X-38 adds to the museum's growing collection of aerospace vehicles and other historical artifacts. The move of the second X-38 built to the museum has a fitting connection, as the X-38 vehicles were air-launched from NASA's famous B-52B 008 mothership. The B-52 bomber served as the backbone of the Air Force's Strategic Air Command during the command's history. Prior to cancellation, the X-38 program was developing the technology for proposed vehicles that could return up to seven International Space Station crewmembers to Earth in case of an emergency. These vehicles would have been carried to the space station in the cargo bay of a space shuttle and attached to station docking ports. If an emergency arose that forced the ISS crew to leave the space station, a Crew Return Vehicle would have undocked and returned them to Earth much like the space shuttle, although the vehicle would have deployed a parafoil for the final descent and landing. Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas |
| Date |
11/4/09 |
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Desert Layover
Space shuttle Discovery is p
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9/22/09
| Description |
Space shuttle Discovery is parked within the Mate-Demate Device gantry at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Cener prior to beginning turnaround processing for its ferry flight back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discoloration on Discovery's reinforced carbon-carbon nose cap gives evidence of the extreme heating it encountered during re-entry into the Earth' atmosphere prior to landing on Sept. 11, 2009, at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Image Credit: NASA/Tony Landis |
| Date |
9/22/09 |
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Portrait
Astronaut Robert L. Behnken
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3/26/08
| Description |
Astronaut Robert L. Behnken used a digital camera to take this self-protrait during a spacewalk. Also visible in the visor's reflections are components of the station, the docked space shuttle Endeavour and a blue and white portion of Earth. During the nearly 7-hour spacewalk, Behnken and astronaut Rick Linnehan, installed a spare-parts platform and tool-handling assembly for the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator also known as Dextre. Among other tasks, they also and calibrated Dextre's end effector and attached critical spare parts to an external stowage platform. The new robotic system was activated on a power and data grapple fixture located on the Destiny laboratory on flight day nine. Image Credit: NASA |
| Date |
3/26/08 |
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STS-66 Edwards Landing Appro
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The space shuttle Atlantis a
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9/17/08
| Description |
The space shuttle Atlantis approaches runway 22 at Edwards, California, to complete the STS-66 mission dedicated to the third flight of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3), part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. The astronauts also deployed and retrieved a free-flying satellite designed to study the middle and lower thermospheres and perform a series of experiments covering life sciences research and microgravity processing. November 1994 NASA / Photo EC94-42853-4 |
| Date |
9/17/08 |
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NASA TV's This Week @NASA, A
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The crew of STS-131 returned
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04/23/10
| Description |
The crew of STS-131 returned home to Houston following their fifteen days in space aboard shuttle Discovery. * The first images are in from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and scientists who study the sun say they are a stunning treasure trove of data about Earth's star. * NASA helped celebrate Earth Day's fortieth anniversary with nine consecutive days of activities and public exhibits on the National Mall in Washington. * Robonaut 2, or R2, as it, or he, is also known, is scheduled to become the first human-like robot to take up permanent residence on the International Space Station. * Hundreds of students from middle schools, high schools, and colleges representing 20 states were in northern Alabama for the annual Space Launch Initiative, or LaunchFest. * The STS-130 crew paid a visit to NASA Headquarters where they played highlights of their February mission to the International Space Station for employees and guests. The six-astronaut crew of space shuttle Endeavour was commanded by George Zamka, Terry Virts was the pilot, Mission Specialists were Nicholas Patrick, Bob Behnken, Steve Robinson and Kay Hire. * On April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope launched aboard Space Shuttle Discovery from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Since then, the observatory orbiting 350 miles above Earth has produced hundreds of thousands of unprecedented images of different corners of the universe. |
| Date |
04/23/10 |
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Perspective View, San Andrea
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The prominent linear feature
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| Description |
The prominent linear feature straight down the center of this perspective view is the San Andreas Fault in an image created with data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which will be used by geologists studying fault dynamics and landforms resulting from active tectonics. This segment of the fault lies west of the city of Palmdale, California, about 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) northwest of Los Angeles. The fault is the active tectonic boundary between the North American plate on the right, and the Pacific plate on the left. Relative to each other, the Pacific plate is moving away from the viewer and the North American plate is moving toward the viewer along what geologists call a right lateral strike-slip fault. This area is at the junction of two large mountain ranges, the San Gabriel Mountains on the left and the Tehachapi Mountains on the right. Quail Lake Reservoir sits in the topographic depression created by past movement along the fault. Interstate 5 is the prominent linear feature starting at the left edge of the image and continuing into the fault zone, passing eventually over Tejon Pass into the Central Valley, visible at the upper left. This type of display adds the important dimension of elevation to the study of land use and environmental processes as observed in satellite images. The perspective view was created by draping a Landsat satellite image over an SRTM elevation model. Topography is exaggerated 1.5 times vertically. The Landsat image was provided by the United States Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observations Systems (EROS) Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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. Size: Varies in a perspective view Location: 34.78 deg. North lat., 118.75 deg. West lon. Orientation: Looking Northwest Original Data Resolution: SRTM and Landsat: 30 meters (99 feet) Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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Perspective View, Garlock Fa
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California's Garlock Fault,
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| Description |
California's Garlock Fault, marking the northwestern boundary of the Mojave Desert, lies at the foot of the mountains, running from the lower right to the top center of this image, which was created with data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), flown in February 2000. The data will be used by geologists studying fault dynamics and landforms resulting from active tectonics. These mountains are the southern end of the Sierra Nevada and the prominent canyon emerging at the lower right is Lone Tree Canyon. In the distance, the San Gabriel Mountains cut across from the left side of the image. At their base lies the San Andreas Fault which meets the Garlock Fault near the left edge at Tejon Pass. The dark linear feature running from lower right to upper left is State Highway 14 leading from the town of Mojave in the distance to Inyokern and the Owens Valley in the north. The lighter parallel lines are dirt roads related to power lines and the Los Angeles Aqueduct which run along the base of the mountains. This type of display adds the important dimension of elevation to the study of land use and environmental processes as observed in satellite images. The perspective view was created by draping a Landsat satellite image over an SRTM elevation model. Topography is exaggerated 1.5 times vertically. The Landsat image was provided by the United States Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observations Systems (EROS) Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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, D.C. Size: Varies in a perspective view Location: 35.25 deg. North lat., 118.05 deg. West lon. Orientation: Looking southwest Original Data Resolution: SRTM and Landsat: 30 meters (99 feet) Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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Kennedy Space Center, Florid
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This is an X-band Synthetic
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10/10/94
| Date |
10/10/94 |
| Description |
This is an X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar image spanning an area of about 20 kilometers by 40 kilometers (12 miles by 25 miles) of the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. At the top right are cloud-like structures which indicate rain. X-SAR is able to image heavy rainfall. The Atlantic Ocean is at the upper right. The shuttle landing strip is seen at the top left of the image. The Vertical Assembly Building, the Orbiter Processing Facility and other associated buildings are seen as a white area to the right and just above the end of the shuttle strip. The shuttle launch pads are the two white areas near the top center of the image. The Banana River shows up as a large black area running north to south to the right of the image. The Indian River is on the left side of the image. Just above the image center is a cluster of white spots which are the major buildings of the Kennedy Space Center industrial area. This was the location of the reflector array that was constructed to form the letters "KSC" by the KSC payload team. The data for these KSC images were taken on orbit 81 of the space shuttle Endeavour on the fourth day of the SIR-C/X-SAR mission. ----- 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. ##### |
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Mojave to Ventura, Californi
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Southern California's dramat
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9/7/00
| Date |
9/7/00 |
| Description |
Southern California's dramatic topography plays a critical role in the region's climate, hydrology, ecology, agriculture and habitability. This image of Southern California from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) shows a variety of landscapes and environments from the desert at Mojave to the ocean at Ventura. Winds usually bring moisture to this area from the west, moving from the ocean, across the coastal plains to the mountains, and then to the deserts. Most rainfall occurs as the air masses rise over the mountains and cool with altitude. Continuing east, and now drained of their moisture, the air masses drop in altitude and warm as they spread across the desert. The mountain rainfall supports forest and chaparral vegetation, seen here, and also becomes ground water and stream flow that supports citrus, avocado, strawberry, other crops, and a large and growing population on the coastal plains. This perspective view was generated by draping a Landsat satellite image over a preliminary topographic map from SRTM. It shows the Tehachapi Mountains in the right foreground, the city of Ventura on the coast at the distant left and the easternmost Santa Ynez Mountains forming the skyline at the distant right. Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data matches the 30-meter (33-yard) resolution of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large and growing Landsat image archive. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by 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 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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, D.C. ##### |
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ASTER-SRTM Perspective of Mo
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Mount Oyama is a 820-meter-h
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8/10/00
| Date |
8/10/00 |
| Description |
Mount Oyama is a 820-meter-high (2,700 feet) volcano on the island of Miyake-Jima, Japan. In late June 2000, a series of earthquakes alerted scientists to possible volcanic activity. On June 27, authorities evacuated 2,600 people, and on July 8 the volcano began erupting and erupted five times over that week. The dark gray blanket covering green vegetation in the image is the ash deposited by prevailing northeasterly winds between July 8 and 17. This island is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tokyo and is part of the Izu chain of volcanic islands that runs south from the main Japanese island of Honshu. Miyake-Jima is home to 3,800 people. The previous major eruptions of Mount Oyama occurred in 1983 and 1962, when lava flows destroyed hundreds of houses. An earlier eruption in 1940 killed 11 people. This image is a perspective view created by combining image data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiaometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's Terra satellite with an elevation model from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Vertical relief is exaggerated, and the image includes cosmetic adjustments to clouds and image color to enhance clarity of terrain features. The ASTER instrument is a cooperative project between NASA, JPL, and the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry. ASTER is operating on-board NASA's Terra platform. 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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. Size: Island is approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) in diameter Location: 34.1 deg. North lat., 139.5 deg. East lon. Orientation: View toward the west-southwest. Image Data: ASTER visible and near infrared Date Acquired: February 20, 2000 (SRTM), July 17, 2000 (ASTER) Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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San Andreas Fault in the Car
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The 1,200-kilometer (800-mil
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11/13/00
| Date |
11/13/00 |
| Description |
The 1,200-kilometer (800-mile) San Andreas is the longest fault in California and one of the longest in North America. This perspective view of a portion of the fault was generated using data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which flew on NASA's Space Shuttle last February, and an enhanced, true- color Landsat satellite image. The view shown looks southeast along the San Andreas where it cuts along the base of the mountains in the Temblor Range near Bakersfield. The fault is the distinctively linear feature to the right of the mountains. To the left of the range is a portion of the agriculturally rich San Joaquin Valley. In the background is the snow-capped peak of Mt. Pinos at an elevation of 2,692 meters (8,831 feet). The complex topography in the area is some of the most spectacular along the course of the fault. To the right of the fault is the famous Carrizo Plain. Dry conditions on the plain have helped preserve the surface trace of the fault, which is scrutinized by both amateur and professional geologists. In 1857, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded in the United States occurred just north of the Carrizo Plain. With an estimated magnitude of 8.0, the quake severely shook buildings in Los Angeles, caused significant surface rupture along a 350-kilometer (220-mile) segment of the fault, and was felt as far away as Las Vegas, Nev. This portion of the San Andreas is an important area of study for seismologists. For visualization purposes, topographic heights displayed in this image are exaggerated two times. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by 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 Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of Earth's land surface. To collect the 3-D SRTM data, engineers added a mast 60 meters (about 200 feet) long, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the NASA, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, 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, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Distance to Horizon: 73 kilometers (45.3 miles) Location: 35.42 deg. North lat., 119.5 deg. West lon. View: Toward the Southeast Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 SRTM, December 14, 1984 Landsat Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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X-43A
NASA made aviation history w
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1/5/09
| Description |
NASA made aviation history with the first and second successful flights of an X-43A scramjet-powered airplane at hypersonic speeds - speeds greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. Compared to a rocket-powered vehicle like the space shuttle, vehicles powered by scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engines promise more airplane-like operations for increased affordability, flexibility and safety on ultra-high-speed flights within the atmosphere and into Earth orbit. Because they do not have to contain their own oxidizer, as rockets must, vehicles powered by air-breathing scramjets can be smaller and lighter - or be the same size but carry a larger payload. No vehicle powered by an air-breathing engine had ever flown at hypersonic speeds before the successful March 2004 X-43A flight that collected the first data from a scramjet engine in flight. In addition, the rocket boost and subsequent separation from the rocket to get to the scramjet test condition had complex components that had to work properly if the mission was to succeed. Careful analyses and design were applied to reduce risks to acceptable levels though some level of residual risk was inherent to the program. Three unpiloted X-43A research aircraft were built. Each of the 12-foot-long, 5-foot-wide vehicles was designed to fly once and not be recovered. They were identical in appearance, but engineered with differences relating to their designed Mach speed. The first and second vehicles were designed to fly at Mach 7 and the third at Mach 10. At these speeds, the shape of the vehicle forebody compresses the air entering the scramjet. Fuel is then injected for combustion. Gaseous hydrogen fueled the X-43A. After the first flight attempt, in June of 2001, failed when the booster rocket went out of control, the second and third attempts resulted in highly successful, record-breaking flights. Mach 6.8 was reached in March of 2004, and Mach 9.6 was reached in the final flight in November of 2004. Both flights began with the combined test vehicle/rocket "stack" being carried by a B-52B aircraft from Dryden to a predetermined point over the Pacific Ocean, 50 miles west of the Southern California coast. Release altitude from the B-52B was 40,000 feet for both successful flights. At that point, each stack was dropped from the B-52B, and the booster lifted each research vehicle to its test altitude and speed. Guinness World Records has recognized both the Mach 6.8 and Mach 9.6 accomplishments. Photo Description A modified Pegasus rocket ignites moments after release from the NB-52B, beginning the acceleration of the X-43A over the Pacific Ocean on March 27, 2004. NASA Photo by Jim Ross |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
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Long Valley, Calif. Three-Di
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This is a three-dimensional
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10/10/94
| Date |
10/10/94 |
| Description |
This is a three-dimensional perspective view of Long Valley, California by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar on board the space shuttle Endeavour. This view was constructed by overlaying a color composite SIR-C image on a digital elevation map. The digital elevation map was produced using radar interferometry, a process by which radar data are acquired on different passes of the space shuttle and, which then, are compared to obtain elevation information. The data were acquired on April 13, 1994 and on October 3, 1994, during the first and second flights of the SIR-C/X-SAR radar instrument. The color composite radar image was produced by assigning red to the C-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received) polarization, green to the C-band (vertically transmitted and received) polarization, and blue to the ratio of the two data sets. Blue areas in the image are smooth and yellow areas are rock outcrops with varying amounts of snow and vegetation. The view is looking north along the northeastern edge of the Long Valley caldera, a volcanic collapse feature created 750,000 years ago and the site of continued subsurface activity. Crowley Lake is off the image to the left. ----- 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. ##### |
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Long Valley, California 3-Di
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This three-dimensional persp
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11/18/94
| Date |
11/18/94 |
| Description |
This three-dimensional perspective view of Long Valley, California was created from data taken by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar on board the space shuttle Endeavour. This image was constructed by overlaying a color composite SIR-C radar image on a digital elevation map. The digital elevation map was produced using radar interferometry, a process by which radar data are acquired on different passes of the space shuttle. The two data passes are compared to obtain elevation information. The interferometry data were acquired on April 13, 1994 and on October 3, 1994, during the first and second flights of the SIR-C/X-SAR instrument. The color composite radar image was taken in October and was produced by assigning red to the C-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received) polarization, green to the C-band (vertically transmitted and received) polarization, and blue to the ratio of the two data sets. Blue areas in the image are smooth and yellow areas are rock outcrops with varying amounts of snow and vegetation. The view is looking north along the northeastern edge of the Long Valley caldera, a volcanic collapse feature created 750,000 years ago and the site of continued subsurface activity. Crowley Lake is the large dark feature in the foreground. ----- 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. ##### |
|
Perspective with Landsat Ove
…
Los Angeles may be the world
…
10/5/00
| Date |
10/5/00 |
| Description |
Los Angeles may be the world's entertainment capital, but it is a difficult place to locate television and radio antennas. The metropolitan area spreads from the Pacific Ocean to Southern California's upper and lower deserts, valleys, mountains, canyons and coastal plains. While this unique geography offers something for everyone in terms of urban, suburban, small-town, and even semi-rural living, reception of television and radio signals can be problematic where there is no line-of-sight to a transmitting antenna. Broadcasters must choose antenna sites carefully in order to reach the greatest number of customers. Most local television towers are located atop Mount Wilson (elevation 1740 m =5710 ft), which is located on the front range of the San Gabriel Mountains (indistinctly visible, just right of the image center). This site is preferable to the highest peak seen here (Mount Baden-Powell, 2865 m =9399 ft) because it's closer to the urban center and has fewer obstructing peaks. It is also situated at a protruding bend in the mountain front and has few obstructions to the left and right. Computer automated methods combined with elevation models produced by SRTM will quantitatively optimize such factors in the siting of future transmission antenna installations worldwide. This perspective view looks northeastward from the Santa Monica Bay. The San Fernando Valley is on the left, Pasadena is against the mountain front at right-center, and downtown Los Angeles is on the coastal plain directly in front of Mount Baden-Powell. This image was generated by draping a Landsat satellite image over a preliminary topographic map from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data matches the 30-meter resolution of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large and growing Landsat image archive. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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. Size: 29 kilometers (18 miles) view width, 70 kilometers (43 miles) view distance Location: 34.2 deg. North lat., 118.2 deg. West lon. Orientation: View toward the northeast, 3X vertical exaggeration Image: Landsat bands 1, 2&4, 3 as blue, green, and red, respectively Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 (SRTM), November 11, 1986 (Landsat) Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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Rann of Kachchh, India, pers
…
The earthquake that struck w
…
4/26/01
| Date |
4/26/01 |
| Description |
The earthquake that struck western India on January 26, 2001, was the country's strongest in the past 50 years. This perspective view from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) shows the area of the earthquake's epicenter in the lower left corner. The southern Rann of Kachchh appears in the foreground. The Rann is an area of low-lying salt flats that shows up with various shades of white and blue in this false- color Landsat image. The gray area in the middle of the image is called the Banni plains. The darker blue spots and curving lines in the Rann and the Banni plains are features that appeared after the January earthquake. Their true colors are shades of white and gray, but the infrared data used in the image gives them a blue or turquoise color. These features are the effects of liquefaction of wet soil, sand and mud layers caused by the shaking of the earthquake. The liquefaction beneath the surface causes water to be squeezed out at the surface, forming mud volcanoes, sand blows and temporary springs. Some of the residents of this dry area were hopeful that they could use the water, but they found that the water was too salty in almost every place where it came to the surface. The city of Bhuj, India, appears as a gray area in the upper right of the image. Bhuj and many other towns and cities nearby were almost completely destroyed by the January 2001 earthquake. This magnitude 7.7 earthquake was the deadliest in the history of India with some 20,000 fatalities and over a million homes damaged or destroyed. The city of Bhuj was the historical capital of the Kachchh region. Highways and rivers appear as dark lines. Vegetation appears bright green in this false-color Landsat image. The city of Anjar is in the dark gray area near the upper left of the image. Previously damaged by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in 1956 that killed 152 people, Anjar suffered again in the larger 2001 earthquake. The red hills in the center of the image are the Has and Karo Hills, which reach up to 300 meters (900 feet) elevation. Geologists are studying the folded red sandstone layers that form these hills to determine if they are related to the fault that broke in the 2001 earthquake. This three-dimensional perspective view was generated using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and an enhanced false-color Landsat 7 satellite image. Colors are from Landsat bands 5, 4, and 2 as red, green and blue, respectively. Topographic expression is exaggerated 5X. Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data matches the 30-meter (98-foot) resolution of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large and growing Landsat image archive. The Landsat 7 Thematic Mapper image used here was provided to the SRTM by the United States Geological Survey, Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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, D.C. Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA |
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Missoula, Montana 3-D perspe
…
This is a three-dimensional
…
5/16/96
| Date |
5/16/96 |
| Description |
This is a three-dimensional perspective view of Missoula, Montana, created by combining two spaceborne radar images using a technique known as interferometry. Visualizations like this are useful because they show scientists the shapes of the topographic features such as mountains and valleys. This technique helps to clarify the relationships of the different types of materials on the surface detected by the radar. The view is looking north- northeast. The blue circular area at the lower left corner is a bend of the Bitterroot River just before it joins the Clark Fork, which runs through the city. Crossing the Bitterroot River is the bridge of U.S. Highway 93. Highest mountains in this image are at elevations of 2,200 meters (7,200 feet). The city is about 975 meters (3,200 feet) above sea level. The bright yellow areas are urban and suburban zones, dark brown and blue-green areas are grasslands, bright green areas are farms, light brown and purple areas are scrub and forest, and bright white and blue areas are steep rocky slopes. The two radar images were taken on successive days by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) on board the space shuttle Endeavour in October 1994. The digital elevation map was produced using radar interferometry, a process in which radar data are acquired on different passes of the space shuttle. The two data passes are compared to obtain elevation information. Radar image data are draped over the topography to provide the color with the following assignments: red is L-band vertically transmitted, vertically received, green is C-band vertically transmitted, vertically received, and blue are differences seen in the L-band data between the two days. This image is centered near 46.9 degrees north latitude and 114.1 degrees west longitude. No vertical exaggeration factor has been applied to the data. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. #### |
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Perspective View, San Andrea
…
The prominent linear feature
…
| Description |
The prominent linear feature straight down the center of this perspective view is California's famous San Andreas Fault. The image, created with data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topograpy Mission (SRTM), will be used by geologists studying fault dynamics and landforms resulting from active tectonics. This segment of the fault lies west of the city of Palmdale, Calif., about 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) northwest of Los Angeles. The fault is the active tectonic boundary between the North American plate on the right, and the Pacific plate on the left. Relative to each other, the Pacific plate is moving away from the viewer and the North American plate is moving toward the viewer along what geologists call a right lateral strike-slip fault. Two large mountain ranges are visible, the San Gabriel Mountains on the left and the Tehachapi Mountains in the upper right. Another fault, the Garlock Fault lies at the base of the Tehachapis, the San Andreas and the Garlock Faults meet in the center distance near the town of Gorman. In the distance, over the Tehachapi Mountains is California's Central Valley. Along the foothills in the right hand part of the image is the Antelope Valley, including the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. The data used to create this image were acquired by SRTM aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. This type of display adds the important dimension of elevation to the study of land use and environmental processes as observed in satellite images. The perspective view was created by draping a Landsat satellite image over an SRTM elevation model. Topography is exaggerated 1.5 times vertically. The Landsat image was provided by the United States Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observations Systems (EROS) Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. SRTM uses 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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. Size: Varies in a perspective view Location: 34.70 deg. North lat., 118.57 deg. West lon. Orientation: Looking Northwest Original Data Resolution: SRTM and Landsat: 30 meters (99 feet) Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA ##### |
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Gaza Strip KidSat image
Alex Amerri and Jenny Shanle
…
1/22/97
| Date |
1/22/97 |
| Description |
Alex Amerri and Jenny Shanley, Kidsat Gaza Strip, Mediterranean Sea KidSat Image STS081.ESC.01002601 This image, taken with the KidSat digital camera aboard the space shuttle Atlantis during STS-81, was requested by Buist Academy School in Charleston, S.C. for the purpose of studying the coast of Israel and the Mediterranean Sea. The Kidsat electronic still camera, using a 50 mm lens, was used to take this picture which covers an area 102.25 km long and 152.98 km wide. The image is centered at 32.7 degrees north latitude, 34.22 degrees east longitude. Due to shuttle orientation, north is located at approximately eleven o'clock in this image. The Gaza Strip is inhabited by more than 800,000 Palestinian Arabs and approximately 4,800 Jewish settlers. This image shows the Gaza Strip and the Mediterranean Sea. The border can be seen within the image because of a difference in vegetation patterns, the Egyptian side being less vegetated perhaps due to heavy use of the land for grazing. Like the West Bank, the Gaza Strip was included as part of the British Mandate that lasted from 1917 to 1948. In 1948, an area west of the Jordan River was given to the Jewish people, and the country of Israel was established. Palestinian refugees settled in Gaza and in the West Bank. Since 1948, the Arabs and the Israelis have fought four wars over land. More recently, peace negotiations have occurred between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. KidSat gives students across the country a chance to view and learn about Earth using and commanding their own instruments in space. The KidSat project is a result of the effort and collaboration of Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth, the University of California, San Diego, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. KidSat includes a payload of digital still and video cameras that fly on the Space Shuttle. Students operate these cameras from their classrooms, sending instructions to KidSat Mission Control Center at UC San Diego via the Internet to photograph specific regions of Earth they wish to study. Image data are sent to the KidSat data system during the mission and these images are accessible in the classroom in real time, again using the Internet. At JPL, students on the exploration team research the surrounding area of images and write a summary of its history as shown above. The KidSat project allows students to explore Earth from space and learn about its past and its fragile, ever-changing environment. Images and student results will be posted on the KidSat home page. Interested public school districts, teachers, and students may view the images and information provided by students during the mission via this World Wide Web site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kidsat The KidSat pilot program is sponsored by NASA's Office of Human Resources and Education, with support from the Offices of Space Flight, Mission to Planet Earth and Space Science. ##### |
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L-Band West Texas
This radar image of the Midl
…
6/22/95
| Date |
6/22/95 |
| Description |
This radar image of the Midland/Odessa region of West Texas, demonstrates an experimental technique, called ScanSAR, that allows scientists to rapidly image large areas of the Earth's surface. The large image covers an area 245 kilometers by 225 kilometers (152 miles by 139 miles). It was obtained by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR- C/X-SAR) flying aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 5, 1994. The smaller inset image is a standard SIR-C image showing a portion of the same area, 100 kilometers by 57 kilometers (62 miles by 35 miles) and was taken during the first flight of SIR-C on April 14, 1994. The bright spots on the right side of the image are the cities of Odessa (left) and Midland (right), Texas. The Pecos River runs from the top center to the bottom center of the image. Along the left side of the image are, from top to bottom, parts of the Guadalupe, Davis and Santiago Mountains. North is toward the upper right. Unlike conventional radar imaging, in which a radar continuously illuminates a single ground swath as the space shuttle passes over the terrain, a Scansar radar illuminates several adjacent ground swaths almost simultaneously, by "scanning" the radar beam across a large area in a rapid sequence. The adjacent swaths, typically about 50 km (31 miles) wide, are then merged during ground processing to produce a single large scene. Illumination for this L-band scene is from the top of the image. The beams were scanned from the top of the scene to the bottom, as the shuttle flew from left to right. This scene was acquired in about 30 seconds. A normal SIR- C image is acquired in about 13 seconds. The ScanSAR mode will likely be used on future radar sensors to construct regional and possibly global radar images and topographic maps. The ScanSAR processor is being designed for 1996 implementation at NASA's Alaska SAR Facility, located at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and will produce digital images from the forthcoming Canadian RADARSAT satellite. 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. ##### |
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This 3D perspective view sho
…
| Description |
This 3D perspective view shows the Japanese island called Miyake- Jima viewed from the northeast. This island -- about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tokyo -- is part of the Izu chain of volcanic islands that runs south from the main Japanese island of Honshu. Dominated by the 820-meter-high (2,700 feet) volcano Mount Oyama, Miyake-Jima is home to 3,800 people. In late June 2000, a series of earthquakes alerted scientists to possible volcanic activity and on June 27 authorities evacuated 2,600 people. On July 7, the island was hit by a typhoon passing overhead, and on July 8 the volcano began erupting. The volcano erupted five times over the next week, spreading gray ash over surrounding areas. Detailed topographic information can be used to predict the directions that lava flows will take. The previous major eruption of Mount Oyama occurred in 1983, when lava flows destroyed hundreds of houses, and an earlier eruption in 1940 killed 11 people. This three-dimensional perspective view was generated using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. A computer-generated artificial light source illuminates the elevation data to produce a pattern of light and shadows, while colors show the elevation as measured by SRTM. Slopes facing the light appear bright, while those facing away are shaded. On flatter surfaces, the pattern of light and shadows can reveal subtle features in the terrain. The elevation is indicated by colors. Lowest elevation areas appear blue, medium elevations appear green, while higher elevations appear brown and white. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), launched on February 11, 2000, 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 Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) 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. Site name: Miyake-Jima, Japan Size: Scale varies in this perspective image, island has an area of 55 square kilometers (21 square miles). Vertical scale approximately equal to horizontal scale. Center Location: 34.1 deg. North lat., 139.5 deg. East lon. Orientation: perspective view is looking from northeast towards the southwest Original Data Resolution: 30 m Date Acquired: February 20, 2000 Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA RTM data, engineers added a mast 60 meters (about 200 feet) long, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the NASA, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, 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, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Location (Mt. Fuji): 35.33 deg. North lat., 138.67 East lon. View: West Southwest Date Acquired: February 21, 2000 SRTM Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA |
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Athens, Greece L & C bands
This space radar image of At
…
2/8/96
| Date |
2/8/96 |
| Description |
This space radar image of Athens, Greece, shows the sprawling, modern development of this ancient capital city. Densely populated urban areas appear in shades of pink and light green. The Acropolis is the dark green triangular patch in the center of the image. Archaeological discoveries indicate Athens has been continuously occupied for at least the last 5,000 years. Numerous ships, shown as bright dots, are seen in the harbor areas in the upper left part of the image. The port city of Piraeus is at the left center. This image is 45 kilometers by 45 kilometers (28 miles by 28 miles) and is centered at 37.9 degrees north latitude, 23.7 degrees east longitude. North is toward the upper right. The colors are assigned to different radar frequencies and polarizations are as follows: red is L-band, horizontally transmitted and received, green is L-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received, and blue is C-band, horizontally transmitted and received. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) on October 2, 1994 onboard the space shuttle Endeavour. SIR-C/X-SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. ##### |
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Perspective View with Landsa
…
Santa Barbara, California, s
…
1/11/01
| Date |
1/11/01 |
| Description |
Santa Barbara, California, sometimes called "America's Riviera," is seen in this perspective view generated with data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and an enhanced Landsat satellite image. Santa Barbara enjoys a Mediterranean climate, a mountain backdrop and a long and varied coastline. The view is toward the northeast, from the Goleta Valley in the foreground to a snow-capped Mount Abel, elevation 2,526 meters (8,286 feet), along the skyline. The coast here faces generally south. Consequently, fall and winter sunrises occur over the ocean, which is unusual for the U.S. West Coast. The Santa Barbara backcountry is very rugged and largely remains as undeveloped wilderness and an important watershed for local communities. Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data match the 30-meter resolution (98-feet) of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large and growing Landsat image archive. For visualization purposes, topographic heights displayed in this image are exaggerated two times. Colors approximate natural colors. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by 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 Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three- dimensional measurements of Earth's land surface. To collect the 3-D SRTM data, engineers added a mast 60 meters (about 200-feet) long, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the NASA, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, 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, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Location (Isla Vista): 34.41 deg. North lat., 119.85 deg. West lon. View: East Scale: Scale Varies in this Perspective Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 SRTM, December 14, 1984 Landsat Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA/USGS # # # # # |
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(MRPS 96969) Perspective Vie
…
Japan's Mt. Fuji presents a
…
12/21/00
| Date |
12/21/00 |
| Description |
Japan's Mt. Fuji presents a beautiful backdrop for the city of Tokyo in this perspective view generated using data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Occupying most of the image foreground, Tokyo's metropolitan area, at about 13,388 square kilometers (5,169 square miles), is home to more than 32 million people, making it the most densely populated urban area in the world. Tokyo residents live within striking distance of Japan's tallest volcano, which is also the country's highest point at 3,776 meters (12,388 feet). Mt. Fuji is still considered active, although the last major eruption of this perfectly symmetrical stratovolcano came in 1707. Because of its height and spectacular scenery, Mt. Fuji is a favorite for touring, mountain climbing and hiking. In this image, elevations are represented by color, height increases from white to green to brown. For visualization purposes, topographic heights are exaggerated two times. Other SRTM views of Mt. Fuji and Tokyo can be seen in PIA-02791 and PIA-02792. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by 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 Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of Earth's land surface. |
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Mammoth Mountain, Calif. L,
…
This false-color composite r
…
10/10/94
| Date |
10/10/94 |
| Description |
This false-color composite radar image of the Mammoth Mountain area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 67th orbit on October 3, 1994. The image is centered at 37.6 degrees north latitude and 119.0 degrees west longitude. The area is about 39 kilometers by 51 kilometers (24 miles by 31 miles). North is toward the bottom, about 45 degrees to the right. In this image, red was created using L-band (horizontally transmitted/ vertically received) polarization data, green was created using C-band (horizontally transmitted/vertically received) polarization data, and blue was created using C-band (horizontally transmitted and received) polarization data. Crawley Lake appears dark at the center left of the image, just above or south of Long Valley. The Mammoth Mountain ski area is visible at the top right of the scene. The red areas correspond to forests, the dark blue areas are bare surfaces and the green areas are short vegetation, mainly brush. The purple areas at the higher elevations in the upper part of the scene are discontinuous patches of snow cover from a September 28 storm. New, very thin snow was falling before and during the second space shuttle pass. In parallel with the operational SIR-C data processing, an experimental effort is being conducted to test SAR data processing using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's massively parallel supercomputing facility, centered around the Cray Research T3D . These experiments will assess the abilities of large supercomputers to produce high throughput Synthetic Aperture Radar processing in preparation for upcoming data- intensive SAR missions. The image released here was produced as part of this experimental effort. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR- C/X-SAR) are 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 that are caused by nature and those changes that 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. ##### |
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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. ##### |
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Lifting Body Aircraft
A fleet of lifting-body rese
…
1/5/09
| Description |
A fleet of lifting-body research vehicles were flown at Dryden from 1963 to 1975 to validate the concept of flying a wingless craft back to Earth from space and landing it like a conventional aircraft at a pre-determined site. Aerodynamic lift - essential to flight in the atmosphere - was obtained from the shape of the vehicles rather than from wings, as on a normal aircraft. In 1962, Flight Research Center director Paul Bikle approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to test the wingless concept. The M2-F1's half-cone shape looked like a "flying bathtub" and featured a plywood shell over a tubular steel frame. Initially towed aloft by a Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to 120 mph across Rogers Dry Lake, the vehicle was later towed behind a C-47 and released for glide flights from greater altitudes. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1 before it was retired. A historical artifact now owned by the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, the M2-F1 is on long-term loan to Dryden for display purposes. The success of the M2-F1 program led to development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies, the M2-F2 and the HL-10, that were carried to launch altitude beneath the wing of a modified B-52 and launched to complete rocket-powered flight profiles followed by a glide landing on the dry lakebed. The first flight of the M2-F2 (which looked much like the M2-F1) took place on July 12, 1966. On May 10, 1967, during the 16th flight, a landing accident severely damaged the vehicle and seriously injured NASA research pilot Bruce Peterson. It was subsequently rebuilt with modifications for improved control characteristics and re-designated M2-F3. During more than two-dozen flights, the M2-F3 reached a top speed of 1,064 mph (Mach 1.6) and a maximum altitude of 71,500 feet. It is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The HL-10 had a more streamlined aerodynamic shape than did the M2-series vehicles. It featured a longitudinally curved bottom and a laterally rounded top and had a delta planform. Following its maiden flight on Dec. 22, 1966, it set several program records, including the fastest speed reached by any of the lifting bodies - 1,228 mph (Mach 1.86) - and highest lifting body flight - 90,303 feet. Data from these flights contributed substantially to development of the space shuttles. The HL-10 is now on public display at the entrance to Dryden. In 1969 another shape, the bulbous X-24A, was introduced. It was flown 28 times, providing data that helped engineers to design a prototype Crew Return Vehicle some three decades later. The X-24A was later modified into a new configuration, the X-24B - nicknamed the "flying flatiron" - with a rounded top, flat bottom and a double-delta planform that ended in a pointed nose. To reduce the costs of constructing a new research vehicle, the new shape was built as a shell around the original X-24A vehicle. Significantly, it was used for two landings on the main concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, demonstrating that accurate unpowered re-entry vehicle landings were operationally feasible. Following its retirement in 1975, the X-24B was placed on display in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Photo Description The X-24B is seen in flight over the high desert. NASA Photo |
| Date |
1/5/09 |
|
Mount Rainier, Washington L,
…
This is a radar image of Mou
…
10/3/94
| Date |
10/3/94 |
| Description |
This is a radar image of Mount Rainier in Washington state. The volcano last erupted about 150 years ago and numerous large floods and debris flows have originated on its slopes during the last century. Today the volcano is heavily mantled with glaciers and snowfields. More than 100,000 people live on young volcanic mudflows less than 10,000 years old and, consequently, are within the range of future, devastating mudslides. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 20th orbit on October 1, 1994. The area shown in the image is approximately 59 kilometers by 60 kilometers (36.5 miles by 37 miles). North is toward the top left of the image, which was composed by assigning red and green colors to the L-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically, and the L- band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. Blue indicates the C-band, horizontally transmitted and vertically received. In addition to highlighting topographic slopes facing the space shuttle, SIR-C records rugged areas as brighter and smooth areas as darker. The scene was illuminated by the shuttle's radar from the northwest so that northwest-facing slopes are brighter and southeast-facing slopes are dark. Forested regions are pale green in color, clear cuts and bare ground are bluish or purple, ice is dark green and white. The round cone at the center of the image is the 14,435-foot (4,399- meter) active volcano, Mount Rainier. On the lower slopes is a zone of rock ridges and rubble (purple to reddish) above coniferous forests (in yellow/green). The western boundary of Mount Rainier National Park is seen as a transition from protected, old-growth forest to heavily logged private land, a mosaic of recent clear cuts (bright purple/blue) and partially regrown timber plantations (pale blue). The prominent river seen curving away from the mountain at the top of the image (to the northwest) is the White River, and the river leaving the mountain at the bottom right of the image (south) is the Nisqually River, which flows out of the Nisqually glacier on the mountain. The river leaving to the left of the mountain is the Carbon River, leading west and north toward heavily populated regions near Tacoma. The dark patch at the top right of the image is Bumping Lake. Other dark areas seen to the right of ridges throughout the image are radar shadow zones. Radar images can be used to study the volcanic structure and the surrounding regions with linear rock boundaries and faults. In addition, the recovery of forested lands from natural disasters and the success of reforestation programs can also be monitored. Ultimately this data may be used to study the advance and retreat of glaciers and other forces of global change. ----- 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: the L- band (24 cm), the C-band (6 cm) and the 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. |
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North Sea, Germany X band
This is an X-band image of a
…
10/7/94
| Date |
10/7/94 |
| Description |
This is an X-band image of an oil slick experiment conducted in the North Sea, Germany. The image is centered at 54.58 degrees north latitude and 7.48 degrees east longitude. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 6, 1994, during the second flight of the spaceborne radar. The experiment was designed to differentiate between petroleum oil spills and natural slicks floating on the sea surface. Two types of petroleum oil and six types of oils resembling natural sea surface slicks were poured on the sea surface from ships and a helicopter just before the space shuttle flew over the region. At the bottom of the image is the Sylt peninsula, a famous holiday resort. Twenty-six gallons (100 liters) of diesel oil was dissipated due to wave action before the shuttle reached the site. The oil spill seen at the uppermost part of the image is about 105 gallons (400 liters) of heavy heating oil and the largest spill is about 58 gallons (220 liters) of oleyl alcohol, resembling a "natural oil" like the remaining five spills used to imitate natural slicks that have occurred offshore from various states. The volume of these other oils spilled on the ocean surface during the five experimental spills varied from 16 gallons to 21 gallons (60 liters to 80 liters). The distance between neighboring spills was about half a mile (800 meters) at the most. The largest slick later thinned out to monomolecular sheets of about 10 millimeters, which is the dimension of a molecule. Oceanographers found that SIR-C/X-SAR was able to clearly distinguish the oil slicks from algae products dumped nearby. Preliminary indications are that various types of slicks may be distinguished, especially when other radar wavelengths are included in the analysis. Radar imaging of the world's oceans on a continuing basis may allow oceanographers in the future to detect and clean up oil spills much more swiftly than is currently possible. ----- 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. ##### |
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Flevoland X, C & L band
This is a three-frequency fa
…
4/18/94
| Date |
4/18/94 |
| Description |
This is a three-frequency false color image of Flevoland, The Netherlands, centered at 52.4 degrees north latitude, 5.4 degrees east longitude. This image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard space shuttle Endeavour on April 14, 1994. It was produced by combining data from the X-band, C-band and L-band radars. The area shown is approximately 25 kilometers by 28 kilometers (15-1/2 by 17-1/2 miles). Flevoland, which fills the lower two-thirds of the image, is a very flat area that is made up of reclaimed land that is used for agriculture and forestry. At the top of the image, across the canal from Flevoland, is an older forest shown in red, the city of Harderwijk is shown in white on the shore of the canal. At this time of the year, the agricultural fields are bare soil, and they show up in this image in blue. The changes in the brightness of the blue areas are equal to the changes in roughness. The dark blue areas are water and the small dots in the canal are boats. This SIR-C/X-SAR supersite is being used for both calibration and agricultural studies. Several soil and crop ground-truth studies will be conducted during the shuttle flight. In addition, about 10 calibration devices and 10 corner reflectors have been deployed to calibrate and monitor the radar signal. One of these transponders can be seen as a bright star in the lower right quadrant of the image. This false-color image was made using L- band total power in the red channel, C-band total power in the green channel, and X-band VV polarization in the blue channel. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-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. ##### |
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Venice, Italy & the Alps Kid
…
Conray Tseng, KidSat KidSat
…
1/22/97
| Date |
1/22/97 |
| Description |
Conray Tseng, KidSat KidSat Image STS081.ESC.01002012 This KidSat image spans the region of Venetia from the city of Venice, Italy, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea north to the snow-capped Alps. Venice appears in the upper right part of the image, and the Alps appear in the upper left. This image is 97.78 km long by 146.31 km wide and is centered at 45.56 degrees north latitude, 11.48 degrees east longitude. Due to shuttle orientation, north is located at approximately ten o'clock in this image. It was taken by the KidSat electronic still camera, using a 50 mm lens, from the Space Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-81 at an altitude of 264.57 km. The image was requested by the Buist Academy Student Mission Operations Center in Charleston, South Carolina. The students will use the image in their classrooms to study the rivers and channels of Venice and to compare the cities of Venice and Paris, France. Venice's Grand Canal is barely visible in the image. Venice was one of the centers of science, knowledge and art during the Renaissance, as well as a major trade center for goods from Asia. Located near fishing and forest resources, it was first settled by a variety of people that included war refugees from Troy and immigrants from what are now the Slavic nations. The first settlement, consisting mostly of wood buildings, was destroyed after a massive sea quake, little remains of the original city. Settlements spread to encompass the islands in the mouth of the river Brenta and now cover a total 117 islands. In the nearby Alps are several waterfalls which, since 1977, have been the site of many ice climbing missions. KidSat gives students across the country a chance to view and learn about Earth using and commanding their own instruments in space. The KidSat project is a result of the effort and collaboration of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth and the University of California, San Diego. Kidsat includes a payload of digital still and video cameras that fly on the Space Shuttle. Students operate these cameras from their classrooms, sending instructions to the Kidsat Mission Control Center at UC San Diego via the Internet to photograph specific regions of Earth they wish to study. Image data are sent to the Kidsat Data System at JPL during the mission and these images are accessible in the classroom in near-real time, again using the Internet. At JPL, students on the exploration team research the images. The KidSat project allows students to explore Earth from space and learn about its past and its fragile, ever-changing environment. Images and student results will be posted on the KidSat home page. Interested public school districts, teachers, and students may view the images and information provided by students during the mission via this World Wide Web site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/kidsat The KidSat pilot program is sponsored by NASA's Office of Human Resources and Education, with support from the Offices of Space Flight, Mission to Planet Earth and Space Science. ##### |
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STS-86 Landing
| Title |
STS-86 Landing |
| Full Description |
The orbiter drag chute deploys after the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis lands on runway 15 of the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the conclusion of the nearly 11-day STS-86 mission. Main gear touchdown was at 5:55:09 p.m. EDT, October 6, 1997, with an unofficial mission-elapsed time of 10 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes and 50 seconds. The first two Kennedy Space Center landing opportunities on Sunday were waved off because of weather concerns. The 87th Space Shuttle mission was the 40th landing of the Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center. On Sunday evening, the Space Shuttle program reached a milestone: The total flight time of the Shuttle passed the two-year mark. STS-86 was the seventh of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-86 Mission Specialist David A. Wolf replaced NASA astronaut and Mir crew member C. Michael Foale, who has been on Mir since mid-May. Foale returned to Earth on Atlantis with the remainder of the STS-86 crew. The other crew members are Commander James D. Wetherbee, Pilot Michael J. Bloomfield, and Mission Specialists Wendy B. Lawrence, Scott E. Parazynski, Vladimir Georgievich Titov of the Russian Space Agency, and Jean-Loup J.M. Chretien of the French Space Agency, CNES. Wolf is scheduled to remain on the Mir until the STS-89 Shuttle mission in January. Besides the docking and crew exchange, STS-86 included the transfer of more than 3.5 tons of science/logistical equipment and supplies betweent the two orbiting spacecraft. Parazynski and Titov also conducted a spacewalk while Atlantis and the Mir were docked. |
| Date |
10/6/1997 |
| NASA Center |
Kennedy Space Center |
|
Kilauea X, C & L/3-D
This is a three-dimensional
…
4/18/94
| Date |
4/18/94 |
| Description |
This is a three-dimensional perspective view of a false-color image of the eastern part of the Big Island of Hawaii. It was produced using all three radar frequencies -- X-band, C-band and L-band -- from the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying on the space shuttle Endeavour, overlaid on a U.S. Geological Survey digital elevation map. Visible in the center of the image in blue are the summit crater (Kilauea Caldera) which contains the smaller Halemaumau Crater, and the line of collapse craters below them that form the Chain of Craters Road. The image was acquired on April 12, 1994 during orbit 52 of the space shuttle. The area shown is approximately 34 by 57 kilometers (21 by 35 miles) with the top of the image pointing toward northwest. The image is centered at about 155.25 degrees west longitude and 19.5 degrees north latitude. The false colors are created by displaying three radar channels of different frequency. Red areas correspond to high backscatter at L-HV polarization, while green areas exhibit high backscatter at C-HV polarization. Finally blue shows high return at X-VV polarization. Using this color scheme, the rain forest appears bright on the image, while the green areas correspond to lower vegetation. The lava flows have different colors depending on their types and are easily recognizable due to their shapes. The flows at the top of the image originated from the Mauna Loa volcano. Kilauea volcano has been almost continuously active for more than the last 11 years. Field teams that were on the ground specifically to support these radar observations report that there was vigorous surface activity about 400 meters (one-quarter mile) inland from the coast. A moving lava flow about 200 meters (650 feet) in length was observed at the time of the shuttle overflight, raising the possibility that subsequent images taken during this mission will show changes in the landscape. Currently, most of the lava that is erupted travels the 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Pu'u O'o crater (the active vent) just outside this image to the coast through a series of lava tubes, but in the past there have been many large lava flows that have traveled this distance, destroying houses and parts of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This SIR-C/X-SAR image shows two types of lava flows that are common to Hawaiian volcanoes. Pahoehoe lava flows are relatively smooth, and appear very dark blue because much of the radar energy is reflected away from the radar. In contrast other lava flows are relatively rough and bounce much of the radar energy back to the radar, making that part of the image bright blue. This radar image is valuable because it allows scientists to study an evolving lava flow field from the Pu'u O'o vent. Much of the area on the northeast side (right) of the volcano is covered with tropical rain forest, and because trees reflect a lot of the radar energy, the forest appears bright in this radar scene. The linear feature running from Kilauea Crater to the right of the image is Highway 11 leading to the city of Hilo which is located just beyond the right edge of this image. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-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. |
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Perspective View with Landsa
…
Before the arrival of Europe
…
1/11/01
| Date |
1/11/01 |
| Description |
Before the arrival of Europeans, California's Cuyama Valley was inhabited by Native Americans who were culturally and politically tied to the Chumash tribes of coastal Santa Barbara County. Centuries later, the area remains the site of noted Native American rock art paintings. In the 1800s, when Europeans established large cattle and horse-breeding ranches in the valley, the early settlers reported the presence of small villages along the Cuyama River. This perspective view looks upstream toward the southeast through the Cuyama Valley. The Caliente Range, with peak elevations above 1,550 meters (5,085 feet), borders the valley on the left. The Cuyama River, seen as a bright meandering line on the valley floor, enters the valley from headwaters more than 2,438 meters (8,000 feet) above sea level near Mount Abel and flows 154 kilometers (96 miles) before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river's course has been determined in large part by displacement along numerous faults. Today, the Cuyama Valley is the home of large ranches and small farms. The area has a population of 1,120 and is more than an hour and a half drive from the nearest city in the county. This image was generated by draping an enhanced Landsat satellite image over elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Landsat has been providing visible and infrared views of the Earth since 1972. SRTM elevation data matches the 30- meter (98-feet) resolution of most Landsat images and will substantially help in analyses of the large and growing Landsat image archive. For visualization purposes, topographic heights displayed in this image are exaggerated two times. Colors approximate natural colors. The elevation data used in this image was acquired by 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 Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three- dimensional measurements of Earth's land surface. To collect the 3-D SRTM data, engineers added a mast 60 meters (about 200 feet) long, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the NASA, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, 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, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Location (Center): 34.97 deg. North lat., 119.70 deg. West lon. View: Southeast Scale: Scale Varies in this Perspective Date Acquired: February 16, 2000 SRTM, December 14, 1984 Landsat Image: NASA/JPL/NIMA/USGS # # # # # |
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Houston, Texas L & C bands
This image of Houston, Texas
…
6/8/95
| Date |
6/8/95 |
| Description |
This image of Houston, Texas, shows the amount of detail that is possible to obtain using spaceborne radar imaging. Images such as this -- obtained by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flying aboard the space shuttle Endeavor last fall -- can become an effective tool for urban planners who map and monitor land use patterns in urban, agricultural and wetland areas. Central Houston appears pink and white in the upper portion of the image, outlined and crisscrossed by freeways. The image was obtained on October 10, 1994, during the space shuttle's 167th orbit. The area shown is 100 kilometers by 60 kilometers (62 miles by 38 miles) and is centered at 29.38 degrees north latitude, 95.1 degrees west longitude. North is toward the upper left. The pink areas designate urban development while the green- and blue-patterned areas are agricultural fields. Black areas are bodies of water, including Galveston Bay along the right edge and the Gulf of Mexico at the bottom of the image. Interstate 45 runs from top to bottom through the image. The narrow island at the bottom of the image is Galveston Island, with the city of Galveston at its northeast (right) end. The dark cross in the upper center of the image is Hobby Airport. Ellington Air Force Base is visible below Hobby on the other side of Interstate 45. Clear Lake is the dark body of water in the middle right of the image. The green square just north of Clear Lake is Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control and the astronaut training facilities. The black rectangle with a white center that appears to the left of the city center is the Houston Astrodome. The colors in this image were obtained using the follow radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted, vertically received), green represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted, vertically received), blue represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received). ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/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. ##### |
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Kilauea/L&C
This color composite C-band
…
4/15/94
| Date |
4/15/94 |
| Description |
This color composite C-band and L-band image of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperature Radar (SIR- C/X-SAR) flying on space shuttle Endeavour. The city of Hilo can be seen at the top. The image shows the different types of lava flows around the crater Pu'u O'o. Ash deposits which erupted in 1790 from the summit of Kilauea volcano show up as dark in this image, and fine details associated with lava flows which erupted in 1919 and 1974 can be seen to the south of the summit in an area called the Ka'u Desert. In addition, the other historic lava flows created in 1881 and 1984 from Mauna Loa volcano (out of view to the left of this image) can be easily seen despite the fact that the surrounding area is covered by forest. Such information will be used to map the extent of such flows, which can pose a hazard to the subdivisions of Hilo. Highway 11 is the linear feature running from Hilo to the Kilauea volcano. The Kilauea volcano has been almost continuously active for more than the last 11 years. Field teams that were on the ground specifically to support these radar observations report that there was vigorous surface activity about 400 meters (one-quarter mile) inland from the coast. A moving lava flow about 200 meters (660 feet) in length was observed at the time of the shuttle overflight, raising the possibility that subsequent images taken during this mission will show changes in the landscape. This image is centered at 19.2 degrees north latitude and 155.2 degrees west longitude. ----- Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and X-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). ##### |
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NASA Destination Tomorrow -
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NASA Destination Tomorrow Se
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6/1/03
| Description |
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment exploring the function of aerobraking and how this helps reduce costs and create more room in aircraft. |
| Date |
6/1/03 |
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Long Valley, California Inte
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These four images of the Lon
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11/18/94
| Date |
11/18/94 |
| Description |
These four images of the Long Valley region of east-central California illustrate the steps required to produced three dimensional data and topographics maps from radar interferometry. All data displayed in these images were acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour during its two flights in April and October, 1994. The image in the upper left shows L-band (horizontally transmitted and received) SIR-C radar image data for an area 34 by 59 kilometers (21 by 37 miles). North is toward the upper right, the radar illumination is from the top of the image. The bright areas are hilly regions that contain exposed bedrock and pine forest. The darker gray areas are the relatively smooth, sparsely vegetated valley floors. The dark irregular patch near the lower left is Lake Crowley. The curving ridge that runs across the center of the image from top to bottom is the northeast rim of the Long Valley Caldera, a remnant crater from a massive volcanic eruption that occurred about 750,000 years ago. The image in the upper right is an interferogram of the same area, made by combining SIR-C L-band data from the April and October flights. The colors in this image represent the difference in the phase of the radar echoes obtained on the two flights. Variations in the phase difference are caused by elevation differences. Formation of continuous bands of phase differences, known as interferometric "fringes", is only possible if the two observations were acquired from nearly the same position in space. For these April and October data takes, the shuttle tracks were less than 100 meters (328 feet) apart. The image in the lower left shows a topographic map derived from the interferometric data. The colors represent increments of elevation, as do the thin black contour lines, which are spaced at 50-meter (164-foot) elevation intervals. Heavy contour lines show 250-meter intervals (820-foot). Total relief in this area is about 1,320 meters (4,330 feet). Brightness variations come from the radar image, which has been geometrically corrected to remove radar distortions and rotated to have north toward the top. The image in the lower right is a three- dimensional perspective view of the northeast rim of the Long Valley caldera, looking toward the northwest. SIR-C C- band radar image data are draped over topographic data derived from the interferometry processing. No vertical exaggeration has been applied. Combining topographic and radar image data allows scientists to examine relationships between geologic structures and landforms, and other properties of the land cover, such as soil type, vegetation distribution and hydrologic characteristics. ----- 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. |
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Volcano/Columbia
This is a radar image of a l
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7/28/94
| Date |
7/28/94 |
| Description |
This is a radar image of a little known volcano in northern Colombia. The image was acquired on orbit 80 of space shuttle Endeavour on April 14, 1994, by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X- SAR). The volcano near the center of the image is located at 5.6 degrees north latitude, 75.0 degrees west longitude, about 100 kilometers (65 miles) southeast of Medellin, Colombia. The conspicuous dark spot is a lake at the bottom of an approximately 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile) volcanic collapse depression or caldera. A cone-shaped peak on the bottom left (northeast rim) of the caldera appears to have been the source for a flow of material into the caldera. This is the northern-most known volcano in South America and because of its youthful appearance, should be considered dormant rather than extinct. The volcano's existence confirms a fracture zone proposed in 1985 as the northern boundary of volcanism in the Andes. The SIR-C/X-SAR image reveals another, older caldera further south in Colombia, along another proposed fracture zone. Although relatively conspicuous, these volcanoes have escaped widespread recognition because of frequent cloud cover that hinders remote sensing imaging in visible wavelengths. Four separate volcanoes in the Northern Andes nations of Colombia and Ecuador have been active during the last 10 years, killing more than 25,000 people, including scientists who were monitoring the volcanic activity. Detection and monitoring of volcanoes from space provides a safe way to investigate volcanism. The recognition of previously unknown volcanoes is important for hazard evaluations because a number of major eruptions this century have occurred at mountains that were not previously recognized as volcanoes. 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. ##### |
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Unzen volcano, Japan
This is a space radar image
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1/26/95
| Date |
1/26/95 |
| Description |
This is a space radar image of the area around the Unzen volcano, on the west coast of Kyushu Island in southwestern Japan. Unzen, which appears in this image as a large triangular peak with a white flank near the center of the peninsula, has been continuously active since a series of powerful eruptions began in 1991. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 93rd orbit on April 15, 1994. The image shows an area 41.5 kilometers by 32.8 kilometers (25.7 miles by 20.3 miles) that is centered at 32.75 degrees north latitude and 130.15 degrees east longitude. North is toward the upper left of the image. The radar illumination is from the top of the image. The colors in this image were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the L-band (vertically transmitted and received), green represents the average of L-band and C-band (vertically transmitted and received), blue represents the C-band (vertically transmitted and received). Unzen is one of 15 "Decade" volcanoes identified by the scientific community as posing significant potential threats to large local populations. The city of Shimabara sits along the coast at the foot of Unzen on its east and northeast sides. At the summit of Unzen a dome of thick lava has been growing continuously since 1991. Collapses of the sides of this dome have generated deadly avalanches of hot gas and rock known as pyroclastic flows. Volcanologists can use radar image data to monitor the growth of lava domes, to better understand and predict potentially hazardous collapses. ----- 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. ##### |
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Craters of the Moon, Idaho
Ancient lava flows dating ba
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2/1/96
| Date |
2/1/96 |
| Description |
Ancient lava flows dating back 2,000 to 15,000 years are shown in light green and red on the left side of this space radar image of the Craters of the Moon National Monument area in Idaho. The volcanic cones that produced these lava flows are the dark points shown within the light green area. Craters of the Moon National Monument is part of the Snake River Plain volcanic province. Geologists believe this area was formed as the North American tectonic plate moved across a "hot spot" which now lies beneath Yellowstone National Park. The irregular patches, shown in red, green and purple in the lower half of the image are lava flows of different ages and surface roughnesses. One of these lava flows is surrounded by agricultural fields, the blue and purple geometric features, in the right center of the image. The town of Arco, Idaho is the bright yellow area on the right side of the agricultural area. The peaks along the top of the image are the White Knob Mountains. The Big Lost River flows out of the canyon at the top right of the image. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR- C/X-SAR) when it flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on October 5, 1994. This image is centered at 43.58 degrees north latitude, 113.42 degrees west longitude. The area shown is approximately 33 kilometers by 48 kilometers (20.5 miles by 30 miles). Colors are assigned to different frequencies and polarizations of the radar as follows: red is the L-band horizontally transmitted, horizontally received, green is the L- band horizontally transmitted, vertically received, blue is the C-band horizontally transmitted, vertically received. SIR-C/X- SAR, a joint mission of the German, Italian and United States space agencies, is part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program. ##### |
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