The STS-99 mission successfully deployed the Spaceborne Topographic Mapper (SRTM) to create the most detailed, high-resolution digital elevation model of Earth. The mission, a joint effort between NASA, the Department of Defense, and international space agencies, utilized radar interferometry to capture elevation data at unprecedented resolution.
During their 11-day mission, the astronauts used the radar instruments in Endeavour’s payload bay to obtain elevation data on a near global scale. The data produced the most complete, high-resolution digital elevation model of the Earth. The SRTM comprised a cooperative effort among NASA with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, managing the project, the Department of Defense’s National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the German space agency, and the Italian space agency.
Prior to SRTM, scientists had a more detailed topographic map of Venus than of the Earth, thanks to previous space missions. The SRTM used an innovative technique called radar interferometry to image the Earth’s landmasses at resolutions up to 30 times greater than previously achieved. Two of the synthetic aperture radar instruments comprising the SRTM payload had flown previously, on the STS-59 Shuttle Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) and other missions in April and October 1994, respectively. A second receiver antenna, placed at the end of a 200-foot deployable mast, enabled the interferometry during SRTM.Endeavour rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on December 13, 2000, following its mating with the external tank and solid rocket boosters on December 2nd. The astronauts traveled to Kennedy Space Center from January 11th to 14th to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, returning to Houston for final training. They returned to Kennedy on January 27th for the first launch attempt four days later. After two launch attempts, the STS-99 mission prepared to liftoff on February 11, 2000. At 12:43 p.m. EST, Endeavour thundered into the sky from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A to begin the STS-99 mission. Thirty-seven minutes later, a brief firing of the orbiter’s two engines placed Endeavour in the proper 145-mile orbit for the radar scanning. Shortly after reaching orbit, the crew opened the payload bay doors and deployed the shuttle’s radiators. Kavandi and Thiele turned on the instruments, deployed the 200-foot mast, and conducted initial checkouts of the radars. The crew split into two shifts to enable data collection around the clock during the mission. After overseeing the initial activation of the radars, the red shift of Kregel, Kavandi, and Thiele began their first sleep period as the blue shift of Gorie, Voss, and Mohri picked up with activation and began the first data takes. The major crew activity for SRTM involved changing tapes every 30 minutes. The SRTM generated 332 high density tapes during more than 222 hours of data collection and these recordings covered 99.96 percent of the planned observations. Data collection finished on the mission’s 10th flight day, after which the astronauts reeled the mast back into its container in the payload bay. The STS-99 astronauts also spent time taking photographs of the Earth using handheld cameras and the high inclination orbit enabled views of some parts of the Earth rarely seen by shuttle astronauts. NASA’s EarthKAM program enabled middle school students to remotely take photographs of the Earth using an electronic still camera mounted in one of the shuttle’s windows. The University of California at San Diego houses the control center for EarthKAM, linked with middle schools via the Internet. Students choose Earth targets of interest, and the camera takes photos of that region as the shuttle passes overhead. A then-record 75 schools from around the world participated in the EarthKAM project on STS-99, the camera returning 2,715 images of the Earth
SRTM Radar Interferometry Space Shuttle Earth Observation Digital Elevation Model
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