Cameras 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
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite deployed its solar arrays while in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CNES
Thirty-three feet apart, at either end of the mast, the two antennas belong to the groundbreaking Ka-band Radar Interferometer instrument. Designed to capture precise measurements of the height of water in Earth’s freshwater bodies and the ocean, KaRIn will see eddies, currents, and other ocean features less than 13 miles across. It will also collect data on lakes and reservoirs larger than 15 acres and rivers wider than 330 feet across.
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