The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission, a collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is set to launch at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:40 p.m. IST), Wednesday, July 30, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.
About the length of a pickup truck, the satellite will provide high-resolution data to help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor major infrastructure and agricultural fields, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions.
Enabling NISAR to do this is the first-of-its-kind dual-radar payload it carries — an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system’s signal is sensitive to different sizes of features on Earth’s surface, and each specializes in measuring different attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. These characteristics are important for studying a variety of natural surface conditions, such as the amount of soil moisture available for vegetation to thrive or if land has subsided over time.
The spacecraft will circle Earth 14 times a day, scanning nearly all the planet’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days.
The launch broadcast begins at 7 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, July 30, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the U.S. portion of the mission is staged. Watch live coverage of the launch on NASA+ and the agency’s YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
To learn more about the NISAR mission, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/nisar
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