Astronauts Use Radar to Study Flooding in Midwest, Germany

NASA pushed Endeavour’s advanced, new radar to the limit Friday in an attempt to survey flooding in the Midwest and in Germany.

Scientists managing the radar equipment aboard the shuttle had not planned on mapping those areas until the floods struck this week. Any information gleaned about the terrain and overflowing rivers, while of no immediate use, could help in predicting the course of future flooding, project scientist Diane Evans said.

“Radar is really the ideal sensor because of the cloud cover associated with the thunderstorms that are being seen,” Evans said.

Astronaut Michael Clifford reported “tremendous” lightning over the Midwest as Endeavour soared across the central United States at an altitude of 135 miles.

Evans said researchers are not sure if the radar can reach the flooded areas from Endeavour’s orbit as the shuttle passes over Oklahoma, but are trying anyhow.

Radar sweeps over northern Europe also are being extended to try to include overflowing rivers in eastern Germany.

The radar in Endeavour’s cargo bay is the most advanced ever sent into space by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The U.S., German and Italian radar instruments have been scanning Earth’s environmental hot spots since the mission began last Saturday. The mission is expected to end Tuesday.

By Friday, 93 of the 183 radar data-recording tapes aboard the shuttle had been filled, representing nearly 50 hours of information, NASA officials said.

“It’s very rewarding to see that our experiment is going so well and that we’re really bringing back the information about our environment that we came to get,” astronaut Thomas Jones told high school honor students during the “CBS This Morning” program.