During three weeks in a thermal vacuum chamber in Bengaluru, India, the joint NASA-ISRO satellite demonstrated its hardiness in a harsh, space-like environment.
During three weeks in a thermal vacuum chamber in Bengaluru, India, the joint NASA-ISRO satellite demonstrated its hardiness in a harsh, space-like environment.
NISAR, the trailblazing Earth-observing radar satellite being developed by the United States and Indian space agencies, passed a major milestone on Nov. 13, emerging from a 21-day test aimed at evaluating its ability to function in the extreme temperatures and the vacuum of space.
Short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR is the first space hardware collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation, or ISRO, on an Earth-observing mission. Scheduled to launch in early 2024, the satellite will scan nearly all the planet’s land and ice twice every 12 days, monitoring the motion of those surfaces down to fractions of an inch. It will be able to observe movements from earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity and track dynamic changes in forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands.
Read more at NASA
Image: The NISAR satellite enters the thermal vacuum chamber at an ISRO facility in Bengaluru on Oct. 19. It emerged three weeks later having met all requirements of its performance under extreme temperatures and space-like vacuum. (Credit: ISRO)
