Area: S:I_UFO
  Msg#: 487                     Date: 04-3094  23:58
  From: Glenda Stocks           Read: Yes    Replied: No
    To: All                     Mark:
  Subj: Shuttle's Mission was...


 -=> Quoting Glenda Stocks to All <=-

     From  : LINDA THOMPSON
     To    : ALL
     System: XBN
     Conf. : 0077 - B:AENNEWS


04/04/1994
SPACE SHUTTLE TO SCAN EARTH WITH RADAR
By Beth Dickey

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla (Reuter) - Shuttle astronauts are bound for
space this week with a powerful radar whose vision can pierce
clouds, dense forests and even soil to make a picture of Earth's
changing environment. The six astronauts arrived at the Kennedy
Space Center Monday to get ready for their scheduled Thursday
liftoff in the shuttle Endeavour. NASA began a three-day launch
countdown at 11 a.m. EDT. The 62nd shuttle mission will study
"how radar can help us solve problems in ecology, hydrology,
oceanography and geology," said Miriam Baltuck, a scientist with
the U.S. space agency. The ultimate goal is to discern which
environmental changes are natural and which are caused by humans.

The crew of five men and one woman plan to spend nine or 10 days
working with Endeavour's $413 million cargo, the Space Radar
Laboratory, bouncing radar beams off the continents and oceans as
the shuttle zips around the world at faster than 300 miles a
minute. The astronauts will train the shuttle's two imaging
radars on forests, deserts, marshes, snow-capped mountains,
volcanoes and open seas. The signals will bounce back to
Endeavour's radar antenna, relaying data such as the temperature,
soil moisture, and amount of volcanic ash in the air.

Tape recorders will store all the information, though some will
be transmitted back to scientists for immediate study.

Nineteen locations from California's Death Valley to Kerang,
Australia, have been labeled as targets. Thousands of researchers
at these "supersites" will clip foliage, dig in the dirt and make
measurements as the shuttle flies overhead, scientists said. "We
really are counting the trees," said Herwig Ottl of the German
Aerospace Research Establishment DLR.  Germany and Italy
collaborated on one of the radars and scientists from 13 nations
will be involved in the studies.

An earlier version of the radar, flown aboard a shuttle several
years ago, is credited with locating the ancient city of Ubar
beneath the desert in southern Oman. Scientists hope Endeavour's
flight will provide more images of the city, celebrated in the
Koran and "The Arabian Nights."  The astronauts plan to
supplement the radar observation by taking 14,000 photographs
during the mission. Flight commander Sid Gutierrez said the
mission is as much another tryout cruise for the radar as it is a
research flight. "We're not sure of everything we'll learn from
it," he said.

**** NOTE

Radars have been used in space before, particularly on super-
secret military spy satellites.

******

The U.S. space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, said Endeavour is carrying "the most
sophisticated radar ever flown in space." They said the shuttle's
radar can lay down a much wider and deeper swath using three
frequency bands at once, unlike military satellites which provide
a localized, close-up view.

******

Endeavour's crew includes a former CIA employee thought to have
considerable experience with satellite radars. This is the first
shuttle trip for Tom Jones, but the rookie astronaut will return
to orbit in August to help with a second test of the Space Radar
Laboratory.

********

"This is the thrill of a lifetime for me," Jones said Monday.
"It's really a flight that will allow us to look into Earth's
past, present and future." Endeavour is scheduled to lift off at
8:07 a.m. EDT Thursday, but could go as early as 7:07 a.m. if
officials see foul weather approaching the launch site.

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