February 24th, 2022: Read the article to know about the launch and other details related to the satellite.
In the first ever event of India-USA joint satellite mission known as NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR). Synthetic Aperture Radar or SAR is a technique of producing high quality images from a resolution limited radar system from outer space. SAR satellites provide 24 hours complete weather observation and can help detect natural disasters.
NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite (Low earth orbit refers to an orbit which is relatively closer to Earth’s surface) developed in a collaboration of Indian and American space agencies (ISRO And NASA). The satellite is developed to carry L and S dual band SAR, which will provide a high resolution imaging of 24 hours day and night coverage of the Earth’s weather conditions.
L band radars are mostly used for clear air turbulence studies, whereas the S band radars are used for near and far ranged weather observations. It can help scientists and researchers observe and record the changes in Earth’s land and ice surface.
HOW WILL NISAR WORK?
NISAR will collect the radar data through a drum shaped reflector antenna almost 12 meters in diameter. The satellite will use InSAR or interferometric synthetic aperture radar, a signal-processing technique to detect the changes on Earth. In its 3 year prime mission period, NISAR will track nearly the entire planet every 12 days, observing both day and night in every weather condition.
The ISRO chairman S.Somanath said, “Today we come one step closer to fulfilling the immense scientific potential NASA and ISRO envisioned for NISAR when we joined forces more than eight years ago.”
Picture source: wikipedia
NASA-JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) will move the SUV sized satellite payload into a specially built cargo container to India’s U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru where it will be prepared for a launch by merging it with a spacecraft from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in 2024.
