Astronauts Squeeze in More Map Work
From Times Wire Reports
Space shuttle Endeavour’s astronauts squeezed in one last day of Earth mapping, giving scientists at Kennedy Space Center in Florida more radar data than they had expected a week ago. By the time the astronauts pull in their 197-foot radar mast today, they will have surveyed three-quarters of the world’s terrain. That equates to 43.5 million square miles mapped at least twice. Double imaging is needed to create ultraprecise three-dimensional maps of the planet’s peaks and valleys. NASA expects the maps to be the most complete and accurate ever produced. Every drop of shuttle fuel has been used or appropriated, if not for mapping then for Tuesday’s scheduled landing.
