Mission Objectives

The primary objective of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is to acquire a high-resolution topographic map of the Earth's land mass (between 60°N and 56°S) and to test new technologies for deployment of large rigid structures and measurement of their distortions to extremely high precision. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission represents a breakthrough in the science of remote-sensing and will produce topographic maps of Earth 30 times as precise as the best global maps in use today. The information will be used to attempt to produce one of the most comprehensive and accurate maps of Earth ever assembled. A Comparison of Resolution Data Data Statistics Planned Data Takes Approximately 1,000 (every time Endeavour is over land) Data Acquisition more than 80 hours Data recording rate 180 Mbits/sec for C-band, 90 Mbits/sec for X-band Total Raw Radar Data 9.8 Terabytes (15,000 CDs) Data Tapes 300 high-density tapes (each tape records 30 min. of C-band, or 60 min. of X-band data) In addition, this mission offers a number of applications for data products and science, including: geology, geophysics, earthquake research, volcano monitoring; hydrologic modeling; ecology; co-registration and terrain correction of remotely-acquired image data; atmospheric modeling; flood inundation modeling; urban planning; natural hazard consequence assessments; fire spread models; and transportation/infrastructure planning. Civilian Applications Enhanced ground collision avoidance systems for aircraft; civil engineering, land use planning, and disaster recovery efforts; and line-of-sight determination for communications, e.g., cellular telephones. Military Applications Flight simulators; logistical planning, air traffic management; missile and weapons guidance systems; and battlefield management, tactics.

Crew
Commander:	Kevin R. Kregel
Pilot:	Dom L. Gorie
Mission Specialist 1:	Gerhard P.J. Thiele
Mission Specialist 2:	Janet L. Kavandi
Mission Specialist 3:	Janice Voss
Mission Specialist 4:	Mamoru Mohri

Launch
Orbiter:	Endeavour OV105
Launch Site:	Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Pad 39-A
Launch Window:	2 hours, 10 minutes
Altitude:	126 nautical miles
Inclination:	57 degrees
Duration:	11 Days 4 Hrs. 8 Min.

Vehicle Data
Shuttle Liftoff Weight:	4,520,415 lbs.
Orbiter/Payload Liftoff Weight:	256,560 lbs.
Orbiter/Payload Landing Weight:	225,669 lbs.

Payload Weights
SRTM	14.5 tons

Software Version:

OI-27

Space Shuttle Main Engines: (1 MB pdf)
SSME 1:  2052	SSME 2:  2044	SSME 3:  2047

External Tank:   ET-92   ( Super Light Weight Tank)

SRB Set:  BI-100/RSRM-71

Shuttle Aborts

Abort Landing Sites    RTLS:  KSC Shuttle Landing Facility    TAL:    Primary Zaragoza; alternates Moron and Ben Guerir    AOA:   Edwards Air Force Base, California

Landing
Landing Date:	02/22/00
Landing Time:	4:51 PM (eastern time)
Primary Landing Site:	KSC Shuttle Landing Facility

Payloads

Cargo Bay

Payload Overview, Applications, and Benefits

SRTM Hardware--the Mast

SRTM Hardware--the Antenna

Data Recording, Processing, and Products

In-Cabin

EarthKAM