SIR-C
Full Name: Shuttle Imaging Radar
Phase: Past
Launch Date: April 19, 1994
Mission Project Home Page: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar/
SIR-C/X-SAR, part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth, is
studying how our global environment is changing. From the unique
vantage point of space, the radar system will observe, monitor
and assess large-scale environmental processes with a focus on
climate change. The spaceborne data, complemented by aircraft
and ground studies, will give scientists highly detailed
information that will help them distinguish natural environmental
changes from those that are the result of human activity. NASA
will distribute the Mission to Planet Earth data to the
international scientific community so that this essential
research is available worldwide to people who are trying to make
informed decisions about protecting their environment.
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
(SIR-C/X-SAR) is a joint U.S.-German-Italian project that uses a highly
sophisticated
imaging radar to capture images of Earth that are useful to scientists
across a great range of disciplines. The instrument was flown on two
flights in 1994. One
was on space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-59 April 9-20, 1994. The
second flight was on shuttle Endeavour on STS-68 September 30-October
11,
1994.
Space radar scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
California, and elsewhere continue to process and analyze images
yielded by the shuttle flights. To view the most recently released
images from the project, see the NASA JPLSIR-C/X-SAR site.