Meet the scientific heart of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission, which will see Earth’s water in higher definition than ever before. Successfully launched on December 16, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite promises to provide an extraordinary accounting of water o
will help researchers address some of the most pressing climate questions of our time and help communities prepare for a warming world. Making this possible is a scientific instrument called the Ka-band Radar Interferometer .
Members of the international SWOT mission test one of the antennas for the Ka-band Radar Interferometer instrument in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech The cutting-edge KaRIn instrument lies at the heart of this international mission, the latest in a longstanding collaboration between NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales , with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and the UK Space Agency.
The two KaRIn antennas will see the same spot on Earth from 553 miles above. Since the antennas look at a given point on Earth from two directions, the return signals reflected back to the satellite arrive at each antenna slightly out of step, or phase, with one another. Using this phase difference, the distance between the two antennas, and the radar wavelength, researchers can calculate the height of the water that KaRIn is looking at.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Watch NASA’s Latest Water Satellite Unfold in SpaceCameras on the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) spacecraft captured the antennas for its main science instrument unfurling in orbit. But before it could do that, the SWOT satellite needed to unfold its large mast and antenna panels (see below) after successfully deploying the solar panel
Read more »
Rio Verde Foothills residents to lose water access Jan. 1: 'Water is our lifeblood'Time is almost up for Rio Verde Foothills residents to find a new water source, with nearly 500 homes set to lose access at the start of the new year.
Read more »
Spring apartment turns water off over Christmas holiday, left residents days without waterThe day before Christmas Eve, a resident got an email from her complex saying the water would be turned off to prevent further freezing and burst pipes. It took four and a half days to come back.
Read more »
Water pressure mostly restored in Jackson, precautionary boil water notice still in effectJACKSON, Miss. — Water pressure has been restored to much of Jackson, Mississippi, but a precautionary boil water notice is still in effect as crews continue to look for leaks and make repairs on the city's troubled water system, local and state officials said.
Read more »
Watch SpaceX launch an Israeli reconnaissance satellite in its final flight of 2022 tonightLiftoff is set for 2:17 a.m. EST on Dec. 30 (11:17 p.m. PST in California).
Read more »
SpaceX caps '22 with record-setting 61st Falcon 9 launchClosing out a record-setting year, SpaceX launched a $186 million Israeli Earth-imaging satellite early Friday.
Read more »