NASA
News
National
Aeronautics and
Space
Administration
AC
321-867-2468
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Melissa Mathews
Headquarters,
(Phone:
202/358-1272)
George H. Diller
(Phone:
321/867-2468)
RELEASE:
63-04
RADAR TEST DURING MESSENGER LAUNCH
MAY HELP RETURN TO FLIGHT
Radar tracking data gathered during
the Delta II launch of the MESSENGER spacecraft earlier this month has provided
promising results that may benefit NASA's Space Shuttle Program and Discovery's
Return to Flight.
A pair of radars installed at NASA's
"This test was quite successful for
us in proving a concept," said NASA project manager Tony Griffith. "The use of
high-resolution wide band and Doppler radars allows us to observe almost any
possible debris during ascent and means we can observe the Space Shuttle without
regard to limitations of visibility, cloud cover and
darkness."
More importantly, the tandem radars
"saw" -- in significant detail -- ice shedding from the Delta first stage,
ejection of the solid rocket booster nozzle throat plugs, and contents of their
exhaust. These are normal Delta launch events. For the Space Shuttle Program,
the test showed that the radars, working together, were effective in visualizing
the vehicle elements in high resolution and the ability to attain speedy
interpretation of the images for initial data analysis after a Shuttle
launch.
The antennas have been on loan to
NASA from the USNS Pathfinder, a U.S. Navy instrumentation ship. The
30-foot-diameter C-band wideband radar antenna and the smaller X-band Doppler
radar worked together to image the Delta in flight. The Navy operated the radars
for NASA during the MESSENGER launch. NASA was responsible for analyzing the
imagery.
"This turned out to be a successful
and mutually beneficial partnership with the Navy that we will pursue,"
Later this fall, a 50-foot-diameter
C-band wide band radar will be installed on this site for a similar Return to
Flight application and for use by the Navy. The radar is being relocated to KSC
from the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in
The radars used for the test are
being returned to the USNS Pathfinder, though the C-band radar used in this test
could return as a backup for Return to Flight, if available from the Navy. NASA
is evaluating the procurement of two X-band Doppler radars for use on ships
downrange, including one of the solid rocket booster retrieval
ships.
KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1607
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