Endeavour Aloft to Map Earth
The space shuttle Endeavour roared off the launch pad Friday at the start of a long-delayed mission that is aimed at producing the best-ever three-dimensional images of Earth’s surface.
The six astronauts on board will spend 11 days in space bouncing radar signals off cities, fields, mountains, forests and other features that shape the planet between its polar regions.
As those signals bounce back into space, they will be collected by antennae aboard the orbiter and at the end of a mast deployed from the shuttle’s cargo bay. The slightly offset images, like those seen in a 3-D movie or picture, should make this whole-Earth topographical map the best assembled.
Astronauts began extending a 197-foot radar antenna mast from the shuttle cargo bay 5 1/2 hours after liftoff.
Within 17 minutes, the towerlike mast was fully extended--the longest rigid structure ever deployed in space.
NASA had been trying to launch the mission since September, but technical glitches and safety concerns kept Endeavour grounded.
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