The largest satellite in NASA has ever canceled in space

A flower satellite It has been “flourished” in outer space, as it is revealed to detect the largest radar antenna ever in orbit. the NASA artificial hole radar (NISAR), a joint venture between the American Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), was launched on July 30 from the Satish Duan Space Center in southeastern India, before it surpassed its full size after 17 days.

The spacecraft is now ready to make large -scale notes of the Earth and will use the radar to track changes on the surface of our planet with unprecedented accuracy. It can record the movement of ice panels and ice rivers, the deformation of the crust resulting from earthquakes, landslides, and changes in the ecosystems of forests and wetlands, up to the accuracy of a few centimeters of certain types of terrain. The aim of this is for NISAR data to help decision -making in a wide range of fields, including disaster responses, infrastructure, agricultural policy and food security.

“The successful publication of Nicar’s reflector represents a great milestone in the satellite capabilities,” said Karen Saint -Germain, director of the Earth Sciences Division at NASA, in A. statement.

Satellite

NISAR antenna – the device that it uses to transport and receive radar signals – receives 39 feet, making it the largest device that has been placed in the orbit of NASA ever. Made of gold -plated wire network, the reflector is connected to the industrial moon like a folded umbrella. During the four days that followed the launch, the satellite extended slowly a boom, before the antenna frame, which was held under tension, on August 15, which allowed the reflector to do so “Bloom” with its full size.

NISAR is the first satellite with two types of artificial aperture: L-band and S-band. The former penetrates the umbrella of the forest and clouds to detect the deformation of the cortex and the movement of the ice cover. S-band moisture in the snow cap and changes in the vegetation. By combining the two, it is possible to register a multi -layer record of various phenomena ranging from earthquakes and volcanic activity to the removal of forests. The giant inverter acts as the necessary “eye” for both systems, focusing on the transferred radar when it is sent to the Earth and receives and focuses these signals when it bounces back to the satellite.

“The artificial hole radar, in principle, works like a camera lens, which focuses light on a sharp image. The size of the lens, called the hole, determines the image of the image,” said Paul Rosen, the scientist of the Nicar project in the jetpox laboratory, in A, in A. statement. “Using special interference techniques that compare images over time, Nisar enables researchers and data users to create 3D films from changes that occur on the surface of the earth.”

NASA and ISRO engineers who work to spread the antenna. It took about 37 minutes to separate the inverter.

Photo: NASA/jpl-caltech

Technology contracts in making

NASA’s jetting laboratory has developed radars for use on satellites since the 1970s, as it launched the first ocean surveillance satellite in the world, SEASAT, in 1978, and reveals the tops of the cloud -covered flower surface with the Magilan planets probe in the nineties.

Consoresting the acquired knowledge of the contracts, NISAR is a product of both American and Indian technology: NASA provided L-pand SAR equipment and data communication equipment, while ISRO in India was responsible for the S-Pand SAR and the satellite-infrastructure that deals with power, communications and satellite direction. The ISRO Earth Station was responsible for launch and initial operations, and experts from both countries worked together to monitor publishing operations.