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The impression of an artist from the Nisar spaceship in the orbit. . | Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH.
The first same partnership between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will fly on July 30th with the introduction of the Nisar Earth Beobervation satellite.
Nisar stands for the Radar Synthetic Aperture NASA-Isro and scans our planet to create the most detailed map of the surface, and the most sensitive that is able to crawl to less than one centimeter.
This sensitivity as well as the overall cover of the earth that Nisar will offer will be of essential importance for the deviation or minimization of the effects of natural disasters, earthquakes and volcanoes to land lowering and swelling as well as movement, deformation and melting of ice sheets and glaciers as well as the persecution of forest fires and floods. Even the smallest changes in the landscape could one day prove to be the forerunner of a severe disaster. For example, there are “slow” landslides, in which a mountain or cliff can move only a few centimeters a day before reaching a turning point. Nisar can crawl or see the subtle movement of tectonic plates and warn if more serious disasters could take place.
“If moments are most critical, Nisar’s data will help to ensure the health and security of those affected on earth and the infrastructure that supports them,” said Nicky Fox, deputy administrator of the NASA directorate for Science Mission Mission, in a press conference of the agency on July 21.
“They can be very small changes, but they can have enormous effects,” added Karen St. Germain, the director of the Earth Science Department of NASA.
Nisar will achieve this thanks to its double frequency band radar. The L-Band radar, which transmits microwaves between 1 and 2 gigahertz (GHz), was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA in South California, while Isro provided the S-Band radar between 2 and 4 GHz. The various frequencies can recognize different things on site. The S-Band reacts, for example, for vegetation and leaves, while the L band can see through the trees to monitor the bare surface, the rock or ice cream. And since no instrument is burdened by clouds, the cover of the surface is totally and mapped every 12 days in unprecedented details.
“These two radars work together to achieve science that cannot see alone,” said Wendy Gemststein, the deputy project manager of Nisar at JPL.
Both radar devices lead in Nisar’s huge antenna, which is 12 meters (about 40 feet) long; When developing, it is approximately the size of a tennis court. “The surface material is a light network that enables the entire antenna to fold very compactly and be stowed at the start,” said Gemstone.
The impression of another artist from one of the Nisar spaceships that shows his large antenna. | Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH
It is this antenna that Nisar gives its special forces of high resolution thanks to a technology called Synthetic Aperture Radar.
Synthetic Aperture Radar uses the fact that Nisar moves. The spacecraft shines down radar impulses while flying with flying, and due to this movement, the area that is switched on by every radar beam is about 10 kilometers long. This is far greater than the actual size of the antenna on the spaceship – therefore it is called a synthetic aperture radar. Usually this movement would stimulate motion blur, but if thousands of radar impulses shine per second to grasp the fine detail, Nisar can recognize in high resolution.
“We build a film, frame for frame, on the earth’s surface,” said Paul Rosen, who is Nisar project scientist at JPL.
By flying in an orbit with precise repetition-in this case, combining its synthetic aperture radar with another technique called radar interferometry via the same base track via the same floor track via the same floor track via the same floor track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track via the same base track.
“We fly along, collect the echoes, take the picture and come back at a later point in time and take another picture. They count the summits and troughs of the radar waves and use them as a benchmark to measure how the floor moves over time,” said Rosen.
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Nisar will drive from the Satish Dhawan Space Center from Isro in space on July 30th on board an Indian geosynchronous vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center of ISRO in Srihariketa, which is located on the south coast of India.
“Nisar is an equivalent partnership between NASA and Isro,” said Edelstein. Fox explained that NASA spent $ 1.2 billion for the mission, in particular the financing of the L band radar as well as the antenna and its boom. Isro contributed the S-Band channel, the spaceship bus, solar systems and the carrier vehicle.
According to NASA, none of the Indian contingents on the project was in the press conference – due to time zone differences. In January, the co-director of the ISRO Science team in the Space Applications Center in Ahmedabad, Deepak Putrevu, said in a statement. “In a variety of science, this mission grabs a common goal of examining our changing planet and the effects of natural hazards.”
Ten days after the start, Nisar will be able to develop his huge antenna, and on day 65 the first full image images are produced.
“I spent my entire career of cycling for JPL, and Nisar is the highlight for me,” said Gemstone. “I can’t wait to see the science that it produces and the effects it has. I think it will help people around the world.”
