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└ F x└└ x P└OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15 AM's Sea Satellite (SEASAT), a new program for monitoring of the oceans to provide continuously updated reports on weather and sea conditions was announced today by NASA. Responsibility for managing the 954-kilogram (2,100- pound) spacecraft which will circle Earth 14 times a day in a north-south orbit, has been assigned by NASA's Office of Applica- tions to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. Gene Giberson, formerly manager of the Mercury/Venus mission, was names SEASAT project manager at JPL. The launch is 1978 of SEASAT-A will be a proof-of- concept mission, which could lead to operational missions in later years. The concept of such a satellite has been carefully evolved since 1973 in cooperation with other government agencies and private institutions interested in and knowledgeable about the oceans. Instrumentation in a sensor module, which forms a part of the satellite, will provide data from which wave heights, current directions, surface wind direction and surface tempera- tures can be determined. These data will allow for the recogni- tion of storm, sea state, currents, ice fields and specific weather conditions. The sensor module is the responsibility of Wallops Flight Center, Wallops Island, Va., with support by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, Silver Spring, Md. Each of the four sensors will be managed by a NASA research center. The radar altimeter will be the responsibility of Wallops; the microwave wind field scatterometer will be managed by the Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.; and the synthetic aperture imaging radar will be directed by JPL. The visible and infrared scanning radiometer is an existing instrument, and Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., will be the technical monitor for it. Goddard will also be responsible for data acqui- sition and satellite tracking support. As currently planned the module would consist of four primary sensors: a compressed pulse radar altimeter, a coherent synthetic aperture imaging radar, a microwave wind scatterometer, and an infrared radiometer. The objective of the initial mission will be to demon- strate the capability of continuously acquiring a wide variety of accurate oceanic data and rapidly disseminating the information to users concerned about weather predictions, routing of shipping to avoid storms, adverse currents and ice fields, and coastal disaster warnings. An operational network of satellites could provide indi- vidual ships at sea with twice-daily detailed maps of their speci- fic route, noting weather conditions, sea state and hazards. Long-range use of satellite data could influence ship design, port development and selection of sites for such off-shore facilities as power plants.▄p▄î In addition to immediate applications of satellite data to such used as hazard and storm warnings, SEASAT will also ac- cumulate scientific data on the curvature of the oceans; ocean circulation; transport of mass, heat and nutrients by surface currents; and the interaction between air and sea. The approximately one-ton satellite, to be supported by aircraft, ships and buoys to verify measurements reported from space, will orbit Earth in an 800-kilometer (480-mile) orbit inclined 108 degrees. In establishing the requirements of the satellite system and to carefully define the types of information that would be of practical use, NASA was supported by a SEASAT User Working Group composed of representatives from the Departments of Commerce, Defense and Transportation; the National Academy of Sciences; the National Science Foundation; the Smithsonian Insti- tution's Astrophysical Observatory; the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Mass.; Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Calif., City University of New York; and several commercial users. The program will use an off-the-shelf NASA or Air Force spacecraft to which the sensor module will be attached. Existing NASA tracking facilities and support hardware will allow for the forming of a complex program without new technology. Cost of the SEASAT-A mission, as currently planned, is $58.2 million. ##### 1/10/75--FB #726 ▄6▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PASADENA, CALIFORNIA The Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Sunnyvale, Cali- fornia has been selected for negotiation of contracts to design and manufacture a new ocean survey satellite, called SEASAT-A, it was announced today by Dr. W. H. Pickering, Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. JPL will manage the project for NASA's Office of Applications. Lockheed will provide the satellite bus, sensor module, satellite system engineering, and system test and mission operations services at a cost of approximately 20 million dollars. The first research and development oceanographic satel- lite, SEASAT-A is scheduled to be launched by an Atlas vehicle in the spring of 1978 from the Western Test Range near Lompoc, Cali- fornia. The satellite, weighing approximately 4000 lbs., will be placed in a near-polar orbit having an altitude of 480 miles. It will circle the Earth 14 times a day covering 95% of the oceans each 36 hours. Satellite sensors will provide radar images of waves and ice fields, determine the ocean topography, tides and currents, and measure wave heights, lengths and directions, sea surface winds and directions and sea surface temperatures. This first global scale observations of ocean surfaces is expected to contri- bute to a better understanding of the oceans and the air/sea in- terface. The sensor complement consists of a radar altimeter, a synthetic aperture imaging radar, a wind-field scatterometer, a scanning multi-frequency microwave radiometer and a visible and infrared scanning radiometer. The objectives and instrumentation for the SEAST-A mis- sion were developed with the participation of other government agencies, institutions, universities and commercial enterprises that have specific uses for ocean data. SEASAT will by supported by aircraft, ships and buoys to verify the accuracy of the measurements from orbit. Data acquisition will be the responsibility of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. S. W. McCandless is the Program Manager for NASA. W. E. Giberson is Project Manager for JPL, and J. G. Gerpheide is the Satellite System Manager for JPL. 11-20-75 ▄p▄ RELEASE 771 FACT SHEET: SEASAT The first of a new family of Earth-orbiting satellites-- Seasat-A--began studying the oceans of the world in July, 1978, after successful launch June 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Seasat-A sweeps across 95 percent of the world's oceans every 36 hours, taking more measurements in a single day than pre- viously were acquired in decades. It watches seldom-visited re- gions where great storms are born and mature and where vast cur- rents flow unseen. It provides information for weather forecasts, charts ice fields, and provides new insights into the 75 percent of the surface of the planet covered by water. Seasat-A is a proof-of-concept mission to determine if satellite-borne microwave sensors can accurately measure the sea state and related ocean and weather phenomena. The satellite and associated ground systems gather, process and distribute informa- tion on sea-surface winds, wave heights and lengths, ocean cur- rents, sea temperatures, storms and ice fields. It is an all-weather monitoring system whose microwave instruments will pierce fog or darkness to observe the ocean's surface. In the past, oceanographers worked with a scarcity of accurate measurements of their subject. For example, almost all information about sea waves came from about 1,200 ships--most of them in the northern hemisphere--that occasionally report estimates of wave height, period and dominant direction. But when oceanographers compare those estimates with actual measure- ments, they often find them too inaccurate for any practical uses. Seasat-A was launched June 26, 1978, aboard an Atlas- Agena into near-polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The spacecraft surveys the ocean from an altitude of 800 kilome- ters (500 miles). It is orbiting Earth 14 times a day, covering 95 percent of the world's ocean area every 36 hours. The basic portion of the Seasat-A spacecraft (engineers call it "the bus") is a Lockheed Agena. The Agena carries a sen- sor module on which the microwave instruments are mounted. Agena is a three-axis-stabilized spacecraft that has flown more than 300 missons. The spacecraft weights 2,290 kilograms (5,050 pounds) in orbit. The Seasat-A program is managed by NASA's Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications. Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the project and the satellite system. Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., is prime contractor to JPL for the satellite system. Five experiment teams, drawn from scientists represent- ing various oceangraphic interests, are evaluating Seasat-A's data. Seasat-A carries four microwave sensors intended to allow scientists to determine how well those instruments measure a variety of ocean phenomena: A Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer serves three primary functions: It measures surface temperature with a precision of 1 1/2 to 2 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 3.6 degrees▄p▄îFahrenheit); measurements the effect of sea-surface winds on the microwave brightness temperature that will provide an estimate of wind speed up to 50 meters per second (110 miles an hour); and provides atmospheric correction data to the satellite's active radars by measuring liquid and water-vapor content in the atmo- sphere. It observes an area beneath the satellite that is 650 kilometers (400 miles) wide. Duncan Ross of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations's Atlantic Oceanographic and Mete- orologic Laboratory, Miami, Fla., is team leader. A Radar Scatterometer measures the increase in fine- scale roughness of the sea that results from increases in surface winds. The measurements can be converted directly into wind speed and direction. The scatterometer measures wind speeds from 4 meters per second (9 miles per hour), to an accuracy of 25 percent in speed and 20 percent in direction. It measures speed and di- rection in two 500-kilometer-wide (310-mile) surface swaths on each side of the spacecraft, and wind speed only for another 250 kilometers (155 miles) on each side. Prof. Willard Pierson of the City University of New York is team leader. A Synthetic Aperture Radar is providing all-weather pictures of ocean waves, ice fields, icebergs, ice leads (operat- ings in sea ice), and coastal conditions. The instrument has a resolution 25 meters (80 feet) over a 100-kilometer (62-mile) swath. Because of the high data rate of the radar imagery (110 million bits per second), the Synthetic Aperture Radar, with its special ground equipment, operates only within line of sight of specific tracking stations equipped to handle the data. Those stations are located at Goldstone, Calif., Merritt Island, Fla., and Fairbanks, Alaska. The Canadian Government is planning to equip a station at St. Johns, Newfoundland. The European Space Agency is equipped a tracking station at Oakhangar in southern England. Dr. Paul Teleki of the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, Va., is team leader. A Radar Altimeter serves two functions: It monitors average wave height to within 10 percent over a range of 2 to 20 meters (6 to 65 feet), significant wave height of the satellite over the ocean to a precision of 10 centimeters (4 inches). The last measurement allows determination of sea-surface topographic features corresponding to ocean tides, storm surges and currents. Dr. Byron Tapley of the University of Texas is the team leader. In order to provide supporting data for the microwave instruments, a Visual and Infrared Radiometer has been included in the payload. It provides clear-weather sea-surface temperature data, cloud-coverage patterns, and corroborative images of ocean and coastal features. It has a resolution of 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) over a 1,500-kilometer-wide (930-mile) swath. Dr. Paul McClain of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite Service, Camp Springs, Md., is team leader. The primary task assigned to Seasat-A is determination of geophysical performance of the sensors and transfer of data-conversion techniques learned during the process to interested users. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has a major role in Seasat-A. Three projects are being undertaken by the agency. The first involves a development plan for application of Seasat data to NOAA's oceanographic objectives. the second is ▄p▄îa joint undertaking with NASA to involve on-federal scientists in a set of experiments using Seasat data. The National Science Foundation, the Naval Research Laboratory and the U.S. Geological Survey are cooperating in the task. And finally, NOAA's Environ- mental Data Service archives and distributes all Seasat-A data to general users. NASA's Ocean Monitoring and Data Utility Program, of which Seasat-A is a part, has developed a user-oriented system concept based on the principal that if the data are valuable, users would provide resources and facilities to uniquely process and assimilate the data to fit their particular needs. For example, the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Weather Central is receiving Seasat-A data through a communications- satellite link to their facility at Monterey, Calif., and is testing use of the information in their daily global weather forecasts. The Seasat-A Project Office has provided algorithms (computer programs) to the weather center to allow them to pro- cess the data. Other users, such as NOAA and the Department of Inter- ior, have real-time and non-real-time plans. User involvement, including representatives of the industrial community, has been expanding. An important element in the proof-of-concept mission is its surface-truth program that uses aircraft, ships and instru- mented buoys to validate the measurements from space. In recent years, the potential for remote sensing of natural physical phenomena has been advanced by research and development of weather and land observations from satellites such as Landsat, Skylab, GEOS and ITOS. Except for surface-temperature measurements, little use has been made of remote-sensing tech- niques for studying ocean phenomena, since development of micro- wave sensors to observe the ocean has only recently emerged. Samuel W. McCandless Jr. of NASA Headquarters is Seasat-A program manager. W. E. Giberson of Jet Propulsion Laboratory is project manager. Dr. James Dunne is JPL ocean experiments manager. John Gerpheide is JPL satellite system manager and Anthony J. Spear is sensor manager. John W. Sherman III is NOAA project manager. John C. Solvason is spacecraft manager at Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. 6/30/78 ▄R▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 NOTE TO EDITORS June 15, 1978 A pre-launch press briefing on Seasat-A will be held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at 10 A.M., PDT, June 22, in the Bldg. 167 conference room (main cafeteria building). Seasat is a new concept in Earth orbiting satellites designed to monitor 95% of the world's oceans each 36 hours. Microwave sensors, including a powerful new radar, will measure wave heights, currents, surface temperature, ice conditions and storms. The data will be used by shipping companies, meteor- ologists and oceanographers. Launch is scheduled for June 26, at the Vandenberg Air force Base near Lompoc, Calif. The launch vehicle is an Atlas- Agena. A press room will open June 24th at the Lions Inn, 1417 No. H. Street in Lompoc. A press bus will leave at 4:30 P.M. on June 26, for the launch site. Due to wind conditions, bring a heavy jacket if you plan to cover the launch. The press room phone is 805-275-2781. Frank Bristow Manager, Office of Public Information 869-6/15/78 ▄@▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 ___________________________________________________ Radar images of the coastal regions of North America are being studied by scientists as Seasat-A, NASA's first ocean- monitoring satellite, completes its first month in orbit. Launched June 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Seasat is observing the world's oceans from an 805-kilometer (500-mile) high polar orbit. One of the satellite's five microwave sensors is a powerful radar system, called a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which produces "pictures" of the Earth's surface day or night and under all weather conditions. A typical SAR operation produces a continuous swath of radar images 97 km (60 mi.) wide by 4,023 km (2,500 mi) long, ex- tending from the west coast of Mexico to Alaska. The information for such a swath is acquired by the satellite in 10 minutes and is processed later into a strip of pictures at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. JPL manages the Seasat project for the NASA Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications. Radar images now being analyzed include those which show the Arctic ice pack, the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida, the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of South America, a recent hurricane zone in the Pacific near the Baja California peninsula. In addition to the NASA scientists, other government agency scientists studying the Seasat data are from: the Na- tional Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, National Environ- mental Satellite Service, U.S. Navy and the U.S. Geological Survey. #876-7/27/78 #### ▄T▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 1978 NASA will launch the Seasat satellite at 6:05 p.m., PDT, Monday June 26 from the Western Test Range at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Network and independent TV wishing to receive color video and audio commentary may gain access through TVOC, Los Angeles by contacting Jim Memmot of PT&T at 213/744-1654. TV transmission begins at 5:35 p.m. and continues through 6:35 p.m. PDT. Audio only of the launch may be obtained by calling 213/354-6000 and requesting Seasat launch commentary. Commentary commences at 5:00 p.m. PDT. Audio News Service 60-second reports are available daily through launch day at 805/865-3456. Public Information contact at Western Test Range is Frank Bristow at 805/275-2781 beginning 6-24-78. 870-6/16/78 ▄4▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 FOR RELEASE TUESDAY, June 15, 1976 Accurate continuous mapping of Arctic ice floes by air- borne imaging radar has been proven feasible by a team of Jet Pro- pulsion Laboratory scientists, working jointing on a National Aeronautics and Space Administration program with colleagues from the United States and Canada. In a series of flights over the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska, radar imagery from a 30,000-foot altitude determined that ice floes drifted up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) in five days of mid-summer. But more importantly, according to Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL team leader, the radar experiment showed that this type of geographic measuring could be done from an Earth-orbiting satel- lite such as SEASAT, which JPL will launch for NASA in the spring of 1978. The SEASAT will have onboard an imaging radar which is being developed at JPL. The accuracy of measurement is expected to be the same-- over 95 percent--even though SEASAT will be in an 800-kilometer (500-mile) high polar orbit. Working with well-defined ground points may make the radar accuracy virtually 100 percent, project scientists believe. Dr. William Campbell of the U.S. Geological Survey and Dr. Rene Ramseier of the Canadian Department of the Environment were prominent co-investigators on Project Aidjex (Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment). For the August, 1975 flights the JPL L-band radar was used on the NASA CV-990 aircraft from Ames Research Center, operating from Fairbanks. Average daily ice floe drift recorded was 6.5 kilome- ters, roughly four miles, eastwardly and 2.9 km (1.1 miles) in a southerly direction. It was even possible for the radar to determine the amount of rotation of individual ice floes induced by winds and currents. The analytical technique used in the determination of the ice motion was developed by Dr. Franz Leberl, an Austrian scientist in residence at JPL. This technique was first developed for lunar cartography using Apollo 17 radar imagery. With the opening of the north Alaska coast to oil ex- ploration, maintenance of ports and shipping lanes will require better knowledge of ice problems in the Artic Ocean, of which the Beaufort Sea is a part. The AIDJEX missions are establishing radar's capability to differentiate between new (first-year) sea ice, older sea ice, and open water, as well as rate of drift on a global basis. Elachi's JPL colleagues, besides Dr. Leberl, include Dr. M. L. Bryan, Tom G. Farr and Elmer McMillan. Dave Billiue and Gene Samuel were contractor technicians on the project. The team predicted satellite radar would be more accu- ▄p▄îrate and convenient for mapping the top of the world. Among the reasons given: ~<~ The swath width of a SEASAT radar image will be 100 km (62 miles) compared to the 12 km (7.5 miles) swath width of the aircraft radar. ~<~ Satellite radar's angle of incidence will vary only 6 degrees compared to a 55-degree variation in some aircraft radar scans. ~<~ The orbit of SEASAT will be smoother than the flight path of the plane and its radar will have an internal geometry system, which will help reduce mapping error possibilities. Earlier in April, 1975, the JPL radar flew over the Bering Sea area and studied the ice-covered tundra lakes of south- west Alaska. Elachi and Bryan reported that the equipment was able to determine whether or not most of these lakes were frozen completely to the bottom. Their colleague on this study was Dr. W. F. Weeks of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratories, Hanover, N.H. Similar measurements of lakes in northern Alaska this spring verified the technique. The experimenters say that radar will help to determine which of the shallow lakes are suitable as year-round sources of fresh water or should be considered for the possible stocking of fish. Another potential application is to pinpoint the lakes frozen all the way to the bottom so that they may be used as land- ing strips for heavy transport aircraft. This activity is expect- ed to grow drastically in the next few years as more oilfields in north Alaska are opened for exploration. SEASAT, the scientists predicted, will be able to pro- vide a complete radar map of Alaska in a few weeks time, permitt- ing such lakes to be mapped on a continuous basis. The JPL radar system can discern objects as small as 25 meters across, irrespective of cloud cover, sun illumination, or platform altitude. The L-band instrument operates at 1200 mega- hertz frequency (25 centimeter wavelength). The final outputs of the system are recorded on 70-millimeter negative film transparen- cies which are arranged to form mosaics for mapping purposes. Computer processing produces other data required--such as relative and absolute ice motion during the period between different flights. #### BB-6/8/76 #795 ▄\▄ SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Monday, October 16, 1978 at 1:00 p.m., PDT Still no word from NASA's Seasat A as flight controllers continue their attempt to contact the ocean monitoring satellite whose radio signals stopped over Australia last Tuesday -- due apparently to an electrical short in the craft's power system. Ground radar and laser beams indicate that Seasat is still in its proper upright position. Tapes of Seasats radio signals recorded by several tracking stations before the satellite's signals stopped are being studied in minute detail for possible clues to the problem. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Wednesday, October 11, 1978 at 12:00 noon PDT A team of engineers is at work to try to bring NASA's ocean-monitoring Seasat satellite back on the air after communica- tion was lost Monday night. Seasat went off the air while on a pass over the Au- stralian tracking station. There is some reason to believe that weak signals heard at several other tracking stations might have been from Seasat. But project officials believe they could also have been from other satellites that were in the same general region. Engineers have determined that the problem was probably caused by a major short circuit that appears to have drawn all power from the spacecraft's batteries. Seasat was launched last June 26 into a near-polar orbit, from which it was able to view 95 percent of the world's oceans every 36 hours. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Wednesday, September 13, 1978, 2:00 p.m., PDT Careful manipulation by flight controllers has eased up power supply shortages aboard NASA's Seasat A. Also controllers have changed the ocean monitoring satellite's orbit so that the craft passes over Bermuda every 3 days for accurate calibration of its radar altimeter. Seasat's radar picture taking, which had been reduced to ten minutes a day because of the shortage of power, has been increased by ten to twenty minutes. The satellite's infrared picture and temperature instru- ment is now working properly following some recent difficulties with its scanning mechanism. SEASAT A MISSION STATUS REPORT Thursday, September 7, 1978, 2:00 p.m., PDT Last week a power shortage aboard NASA's Seasat-A caused a temporary shutdown of the ocean monitoring satellites radar altimeter. Analysis showed that more electric power was required than could be supplied by the satellite's power system which is now operating with the solar panels in the Earth's shadow part of each orbit. ▄p▄î The available power is gradually increasing as the sun geometry changes and Seasat's altimeter is now operating half of each orbit and is expected to be in full operation next week. The satellites radar picture taking has been reduced to about ten min. a day but will soon be gradually increased. An orbit adjust maneuver was performed on Saturday, August 26. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Thursday, August 24, 1978, 11:00 AM PDT Adjustments to Seasat A's orbit last week and this week have gone well. So that Seasat can make good measurements of ocean conditions around the world its orbit needs to be as circular as possible and its passage over tracking stations needs to be precisely timed. A final orbit adjustment to accomplish these needs is scheduled early Saturday. Seasat A is now passing through the Earth's shadow during part of its orbit. This condition will last about 4 months. Because Seasat will have less solar power during this period it will take fewer radar pictures. SEASAT A MISSION STATUS REPORT Friday, July 7, 1978, 8:30 a.m., PDT Delighted scientists and flight engineers report that all five ocean monitoring sensors aboard NASA's experimental satellite, Seasat A, are on and working well, with the craft keeping itself in the correct upright position. For the next few weeks scientists will evaluate the performance of Seasats ocean sensors by comparing the sensor's data with that taken by surface ships and airplanes in certain target areas. Seasat is circling the Earth 14 times a day at an alti- tude of about 500 miles where its sensors can view 95% of the world's oceans every 36 hours. SEASAT A MISSION STATUS REPORT Thursday, July 6, 1978, 10:00 a.m., PDT Checks and calibrations of Seasat A's ocean sensors show all are working with no further attitude control difficulties. Starting this evening and lasting until early tomorrow morning each of Seasat's five sensors will be turned on and left on in order to check how well they all work together. An adjustment to Seasat's orbit scheduled this weekend has been cancelled because tracking data so far shows that the orbit is almost perfect. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Wednesday, July 5, 1978 at 10:30 a.m., PDT The Sun is no longer shinning in the horizon scanning eye of NASA's Seasat A, and the oceanographic satellite is keeping itself properly upright so that its microwave sensors watch the ▄p▄îworlds oceans. All but one of those sensors have been checked out and are working well, controllers report. The wind measuring sensor, called a scatterometer, will be turned on for the first time tomorrow during a calibration sequence for all of the sensors. Engineers have started to study possible operating pro- cedures to avoid or work around the problem of stray sunlight con- fusing Seasats horizon scanners. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Friday, June 30, 1978, 1:30 PM PDT The theory that NASA's Seasat A satellite wobbled peri- odically because sunlight was being reflected on to one of its horizon scanners appears to be correct. Since the suspected scanner has been turned off no fur- ther yaw and roll disturbances have been noted. With time and changing seasonal sun angles the scanner will be usable again, officials say. A planned orbit adjustment this weekend has been post- poned because calculations show that Seasat's orbit is much better than hoped for after its launch Monday. If the adjustment is done later it will be very slight. Checkout and calibration of Seasat's ocean monitoring sensors is due to begin next week. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Friday, June 30, 1978 at 9:30 A.M., PDT Sun reflections from Seasat's structure or one of its antennas may be confusing a horizon scanner, causing the oceano- graphic satellite to wobble twice each time it orbits the Earth, project manager Gener Giberson reports. After Seasat's orbit attitude control system was turned on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning controllers noticed that signals from the craft showed a disturbing roll and yaw twice each orbit. Analysis suggests that a reflected glint of sunlight at certain times may be shinning on a horizon scanner. Controllers have turned the suspected scanner off and will watch Seasat's behavior for several orbits. All else aboard Seasat which was launched Monday, is normal as engineers continue checkouts and calibrations of the experimental ocean watching satellite. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Wednesday, June 28, 1978 at 11:30 a.m., PDT So far all is well with NASA's Seasat satellite, which in a month's time is scheduled to begin making important measurements of the state of the World's oceans. Launched Monday evening, Seasat's power and attitude control systems and ground communication procedures are being checked. Slight adjustments to Seasat's orbit are scheduled this weekend and next weekend. ▄p▄î Next week checks and calibrations of Seasat's microwave sensors will begin. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Tuesday, June 27, 1978 at 10:00 a.m., PDT All is well aboard America's new satellite, Seasat A, which is designed to study the world's oceans. Following the successful launch last night from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, the satellite successfully extended all its numerous antennas and its solar power panels. Early tracking reports indicate that Seasat's orbit is good. NASA engineers will now begin a month-long checkout of Seasat, calibrate its sensors, and adjust its orbit before it begins reporting on the state of the world's oceans. SEASAT MISSION STATUS REPORT Monday, June 26, 1978 at 5:30 p.m., PDT Nasa's experimented oceanographic satellite, Seasat-A, was successfully launched tonight from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff time was about 6:12 p.m., PDT. Except for a short hold for a broken line bringing water to the launch pad, all went smoothly. Once in orbit the various antennas of Seasat's sensors and its solar power panels will be deployed. After a month long checkout, circling the Earth 14 times a day, Seasat will start reporting on ocean waves, tides, currents, temperature, ice flows, coastal conditions, and water cloud patterns from 500 miles up. Every 36 hours its sensors will observe 95% of the world's ocean surface. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Thursday June 22, 1978 "We are not talking about a meteorology satellite, we are not talking about a version of Landsat. We are talking about something new." That was project manager Gene Giberson describng NASA's oceanographic satellite Seasat Apress briefing today at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. id the launch of Seasat is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT Monday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Scientist Dr. John Apel describes what Seasat is de- signed to do: "I would like to reiterrate that Seasat is an ex- perimental satellite. It is not a prototype operational, or operational spacecraft. Its primarily of interest, I think, to physical oceanographers - to study such things as waves, currents, sea temperatures, and tides. To marine meterologists - to study things such as wind, water vapor in the atmosphere. To geodesists who are interested in the shape of the Earth. And to glaciolo- gists - that is people who study ice, and in fact get a rather good view of ice coverage in the sea, and even ice caps over Greenland and part of Antarctica." NASA's program manager Walt McCandless told about some ▄p▄îof the uses for Seasat information: "The mission has captured the interest of people that are engaged in commerce in the oceans who have to make decisions as to whether or not they're going to de- ploy vessels and people to begin drilling operations, or its cap- tured the interest of people that are trying to provide customized routing services for tankers and breakball cargo ships. There are people out in mid ocean determining whether or not they can mine manganese nodules from the bottom of the ocean." Seasat will report its global ocean information every 36 hours froms its 500-mile-high orbit as it circles the Earth 14 times a day. However, for the first month aftez launch it will be checked out and its sensors calibrated, project manager Giberson said. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Wednesday, June 21, 1978 Preparations for the launch of NASA's Seasat A on Monday June 26th from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are on schedule. Lift-off time for the experimental oceanographic satel- lite is set for 6:05 p.m. PDT. If all goes well in an hours time Seasat will be in a circular orbit 500 miles above the Earth where later it can ob- serve the state of 95% of the worlds oceans every 36 hours. SEASAT A MISSION STATUS Wednesday, June 14, 1978 NASA and Air Force officials have announced a new launch date of Monday June 26th for the oceanographic satellite called Seasat A. Previously set for June 24th at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California the liftoff is now scheduled at approximately 6:00 PM Pacific time on the 26th. Remote sensors aboard the experimental Seasat A are designed to monitor the state of 95% of the worlds oceans every 36 hours from 500 miles up. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Friday, June 2, 1978 NASA and Air Force officials have picked Saturday, June 24th for the launch of the oceanographic satellite, Seasat A, pro- vided that no problems develop in the current component testing and changes to the propulsion system of the Atlas F launch rocket. Officials ordered these tests and changes after over- heating was detected in the aft section of the Atlas during 2 recent satellite launches. The launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. about 6:00 p.m. PDT on the 24th will put the experimental satellite in a near polar orbit, 500 miles above the Earth, where it can check the state of 95% of the world's oceans every 36 hours. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Wednesday, May 31, 1978 ▄p▄î Because of scheduling problems the June 28th launching of the Seasat A Earth satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, has been cancelled. Next week NASA project officials will announce a new date for the launching of the experimental oceanographic satel- lite. SEASAT STATUS REPORT Tuesday, May 30, 1978, 10:00 A.M. It was announced today by NASA officials in Washington that the launch of the Seasat A oceanographic satellites is set for Wednesday, June 28th at approximately 6:00 p.m., PDT from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The experimental satellite carries 5 remote sensors to measure the state of the world's oceans under any weather condi- tions. It will circle the globe 14 times a day covering 95% of the ocean areas every 36 hours. SEASAT MISSION STATUS Friday, May 26, 1978 The launch of NASA's Seasat A from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, schedules for June 10th, has been post- poned for at least 2 weeks in order to check the Atlas launch vehicles propulsion system. During recent satellite launched higher than expected temperatures in the aft section of the Atlas have been recorded. ▄:▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION P-20467AA July 27, 1978 Radar imagery of geologic structure and topographic variations near Knoxville, Tennessee, was obtained July 8 by Seasat A's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Three distinctive types of topographic terrain are seen: the Smokey Mountains to the south (bottom); the folded Appalachians trending northeast (top right) to southwest; and the Cumberland Overthrust adjacent to the Appalachian Plateau to the north. Other features clearly recognizable are reservoirs on the Tennessee River and its tributaries (center). An ocean-monitoring satellite, Seasat also is capable of continental measurements with its payload of day-night, all-weather microwave sensors. This image, acquired at 6:07 a.m. local time, followed by just three minutes SAR coverage of open ocean surface in the Atlantic northeast of Miami. The SAR imaging swath continued northwest across the Great Lakes and into Canada. ▄4▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION P-20456A July 27, 1978 A radar image of the Baja Peninsula coast of Mexico (right), a chain of coastal islands (center) and the Pacific (left) was obtained by Seasat A's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) prior to dawn on July 7. The bright ocean areas show varied patterns including groups of internal waves and several areas of wind-roughened surface. (Corresponding weather maps indicated a 15 to 20-knot offshore breeze in these zones.) Dark patches in the lee of the mountainous islands are areas of water sheltered from the wind. North is toward the top of the "picture." Islands shown are Santa Margarita to the south and Santa Magdalena. Agricultural fields can be seen at upper right. Tidal channels connect with Almejas Bay (lower right) and Magdalena Bay (center of photo). This image is a segment of a SAR swath extending some 2500 miles along western North America to Alaska. The SAR is one of five microwave sensors aboard Seasat A which circles the Earth 14 times a day in a near-polar, 500-mile orbit. ▄8▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABROATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION P-20456B July 27, 1978 This example of complex ocean structure includes a portion of the Gulf Stream just off the Florida coast northeast of Miami and north of Grand Bahama Island in the Atlantic. Acquired by a high-resolution radar system -- a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) -- aboard the Seasat A satellite, the image covers an area approximately 60 by 75 miles. The pattern of striations at upper left may be related to the motion of the Gulf Stream current, while the irregular pattern in the lower half of the picture may indicate the effects of wind and rainfall on the ocean's surface resulting from a local rain squall. Ocean waves can be seen in a limited zone near the squall area (center). Although, at first glance, this photo appears to show clouds and other atmospheric features, the SAR sees through the atmosphere and records only reflections received from the surface. The image was acquired at 6:04 a.m. EDT on July 8. ▄4▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION P-20474 July 27, 1978 This Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image shows a portion of the Beaufort Sea ice pack west of Banks Island, Canada (right) and covers an area about 60 by 75 miles. The region is north-east of Alaska and some 500 miles inside the Arctic Circle. The image, obtained as Seasat overflew the area at 1:55 a.m. July 11, contains numerous ice, water and land features. Stream channels, alluvial fans and beaches are seen on Banks Island. The dark zone adjacent to the island is an area of shore fast ice composed primarily of first-year sea ice, three to six feet thick. Linear pressure ridges are seen within the shore fast zone, and west of this zone is an area of open water, called a shore lead. At the western edge of the lead and to the North is a marginal ice zone composed of a mixture of open water and large and small rounded multi-year floes, typically 10 to 15 feet thick, and some first-year ice. Further west is the main polar pack, made up of large floes up to 12 miles in diameter, surrounded by new leads. A random pattern of pressure ridges is visible within the floes. The very bright areas within the floes indicate intensive surface roughness, called rubble fields. ▄<▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 271-324 STUDYING THE WORLD'S OCEANS -- Painting shows SEASAT-A spacecraft as it studies oceans from Earth orbit. The spacecraft will deter- mine if microwave sensors have value in providing information about sea-state and related weather phenomena. SEASAT-A, managed for NASA by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in May 1978 into a near-polar orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) high. SEASAT-A will circle the globe 14 times a day, providing coverage of 95 percent of the oceans every 36 hours. The instruments resolution varies, but in some cases it is as small as 25 meters (about 80 feet). ▄(▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-19993B Seasat A comprises two modules -- the Agena bus (top) and sensor module -- and is 12 meters (40 feet) long and weights about 2300 kilograms (5050 lbs). Maximum diameter without antennas and other appendages deployed is 1.5 meters (10 feet). Synthetic aperture radar antenna (at bottom of spacecraft) is 2.1 meters (7 feet) by 10.7 meters (35 feet). Seasat A is stabilized on three axes by a momentum wheel/horizon sensing system to point the instruments at Earth's surface. ##### ▄&▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-20021 AC AN EYE FOR ICEBERGS -- Seasat A spacecraft will help locate sea ice and ice leads (navigable openings in ice). The spacecraft, to be launched in May 1978, is intended to demonstrate that microwave instruments in space can provide useful data on sea conditions for oceanographers and users of the seas. The program is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technolgoy. ▄"▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-20021 BC HELPING IN THE SEARCH FOR ENERGY -- Seasat A spacecraft is expected to aid offshore oil exploration and production efforts, including warnings of storm conditions that might threaten platform crews. The spacecraft will be launched into near polar orbit in May, 1978. The Seasat Project is managed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology. ▄"▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-20083 A fishing boat struggles through high seas as Seasat A spacecraft monitors progress of the storm in this painting. Seasat A is intended to monitor the worlds oceans with microwave sensors from its polar orbit. The Seasat Project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. ▄▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-20157 Seasat A will become the first spacecraft dedicated to oceano- graphic studies. The science of oceanography began more than 100 years ago with the sailing of HMS Challenger. Challenger's round-the-world trip became the model for oceanographic voyagers. Seasat A will be launched into a polar orbit from which it can examine 95 percent of the world's oceans every 36 hours. It will attempt to prove the concept of ocean survey using microwave sensors. The Seasat project is managed for NASA by Jet Propulshon Laboratory. ▄&▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 P-20384 P-20382 AC & BC P-20383 AC & BC P-20471 Seasat-A, NASA's first ocean monitoring satellite, was launched at 6:12 p.m., PDT, June 26, 1978, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California by an Atlas F/Agena launch vehicle. The 5,000-pound Seasat climbed to a 500-mile-high near polar orbit from where it will measure waves, wind, ice, temperatures and atmospheric condi- tions over the seas of the Earth. Seasat, managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was launched by an Air Force team. ▄(▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINSTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 Seasat project officials declared a spacecraft emergency late last night after NASA's ocean-monitoring satellite went off the air over the Australian tracking station. Early indications are that a short-circuit aboard the spacecraft placed a severe drain on Seasat's batteries. Controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center are sending commands to Seasat, in an attempt to reduce nonessential power use. Engineers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. are working to diagnose the problem further. Seasat was launched June 26, 1978, into a near-polar or- bit. The project is managed for NASA's Office of Space and Ter- restrial Applications by Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ##### ▄2▄ 10/10/78 FROM: TODAY, Thursday, Oct. 12, 1978 BY: Dick Baumbach Senior NASA officials studying the mysterious failure of a Seasat ocean research satellite earlier this week have dis- cussed the possibility that the spacecraft might have been crip- pled by a killer satellite, TODAY has learned. "The massive damage we have sustained to the spacecraft leaves us in a position that we don't know whether we caused it internally or if it was caused by an external force." Walter McCandless, NASA's Seasat program manager, said Wednesday. Highly placed space agency sources said the killer satellite theory has been discussed several times since the space- craft's power system stopped working late Monday night. "We've had a thought or two about it," McCandless said when we asked if the space agency was looking into the possibility that another satellite might have caused the damage to Seasat. Sources said another possible reason for the failure might be traced to the use of a highly sophisticated ground-based laser beam which could have been directed at the spacecraft in order to shut down the satellite. The program manager for the $75 million satellite said among the less dramatic causes for the failure was the possibility that a short circuit in the power system caused the entire space- craft to shut down. Seasat was in perfect health at 10:30 p.m., Monday, when it passed over a NASA tracking station in Australia, but when the spacecraft passed over its next tracking station at Santiago, Chile, "everything had fallen apart" McCandless said. The program manager said Seasat, which is in a 500 mile- high orbit, was out of NASA tracking range when the power system failed. During the time it wasn't being tracked, and when the failure occurred, the spacecraft flew over the eastern part of the Soviet Union. The program director said he did not know if contact had been made with the Soviet Union about the incident. Asked if there were any future plans to talk to the Russians about the failure. McCandless said, "That's way beyond me and my scope of duties." Space agency sources said it has been known for some time that the Soviets have been upset with Seasat's operation. One reason for the Russian concern is that the satel- lite, although billed as a scientific research spacecraft, has the capability of "seeing" to a depth of 1,500 meters, about 0.94 miles, below the ocean's surface. It was also learned that Navy officials have been edit- ing data received from the spacecraft prior to turning over the information to NASA scientists. McCandless said the space agency "is going through a series of failure modes to try and find out what happened. We are also looking at some possible recovery modes, but I don't know if we will succeed." "All we know is the kind of damage we have suffered ▄p▄îisn't connected with our payload, with our sensors or with any- thing else on the spacecraft except the basic power system and we don't know how or why it happened," he said. Officials of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), headquartered in Colorado, said when they were notified by NASA of the spacecraft's failure they could not locate "any other manmade objects in that vicinity." The NORAD officials added, however, that the space agency told them of the incident more than an hour and a half after the satellite had last been reported in good health. Seasat had been functioning perfectly ever since it was launched 3 1/2 months ago from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA officials have described Seasat's program as the most ambitious study of the Earth's oceans ever conducted. Rev. ______________ - Day 282 2148 Z -- T/R 1 to Read in 2153 Z -- T/R 2 Full ? -- T/R 2 Dumped _______________ - Day 283 0132 Z -- T/R 2 to Read in 0136 Z -- End of Sar Pass at UKO 0137 Z -- T/R 1 Full 1502 0220 Z -- ___ AOS T/R 1 Dumped at ORR Last good pass over Orroral; all data nominal Good data 107?o\ solar array temp 42?o\ 45?o\ Battery temp Sensors normal 0228 ___ LOS 1503 0235 Begin Rev. 1503 1503 0300 Z -- T/R 1 to Read in 0300 Z -- _________ AOS Recorded 17,866 frames of Seasat TLM Signal level "good" (-95 dbm) 0305 Z -- T/R 2 Full 0312 Z -- Successful Tranet Beacon contact (BDA) 0314 Z -- _________ LOS 1503 0331 Z -- ___ AOS 8 Commands from Memory - Eclipse pass Unregulated voltage reading 23.8 Bat. 1 51.5A (Saturated) @ 24.3v Bat. 2 51.8A (Saturated) @ 24.2v Structure current 0.199A, Pulsing normal -Y Solar Array Temp - 255 Counts (865?o\F Solar array temp) (Note: Not real but indicates hot & off scale) Sensors O.K. Roll, pitch normal 1503 0337 Z -- K\2? opens (Bat. temp hi) Roll, pitch strange - (Data system) Unregulated 24V 1503 0341 Z -- Batt. current down Bat. 1, 1 Amp drop; Bat. 2, 6 Amp drop (SASS effects seen in Bat. current) ▄p▄î Batt. temp 80 - 90?o\F Structure current - normal Solar Array tracking normal S/C comes out of eclipse 1503 034251 Signal Fade 0357 Z -- __________, Aust. Tranet Beacon contact -324 MHz downlink normal throughout -162 MHz downlink normal to 0408Z -20 db drop in signal, fluctuating power level with 30 sec period - signal lost at 0409:30Z -Required very weak signal til 0412 1503 0359 Z -- ___ AOD - 2 CMDS - Sun Pass Unregulated current, Higher than 1503 AGO 34 Amp 41 Amp SASS Pulse Batt. 1. 22.2v Batt. 2. 22.2v Batt. current down more S.C. 10 amp Structure current 12 Amp peak to 15 Amp Down to 9 Amp at end of pass Much higher than prev. pass -Y solar array temp pegged, fluctuates around saturation (Same time as structure current fluctuation, then decays. Reads 473?o\ at end of pass.) +Y Array reading high also 0405 Pitch/roll - no sense RRW 88.9?o\F LSW 75.6?o\F Bearing temp PMW 82.9?o\F RSW 79.3?o\F Solar array position anomaly 120?o\ Solar array momentary step discontinuity occurred. SADE 139?o\F to 155?o\F during ORR pass. 0406 Batt. 2. 32 Amp SMMR current increases 0406 SASS Cut-off 0408 Fade - Batt. 1 38 Amp. 18.97 Unreg. volt. Batt. 2 37 Amp LOS predict AGC indicates uplink lost at 040757 0412 Z -- __________, Aust. End of contact 1504 0415 Begin Rev. 1504 0448 Z -- Unsuccessful Tranet Beacon attempt (HERN) ▄p▄î 0452 Z -- Bermuda -- Laser hit indicated spacecraft in proper orientation within limits (Sometime after BDA and before GDS passes) -- NORAD skin track indicated attitude is stable 0510 Z -- Mila End of Pass 0650 Z -- T/R 1 Full 1506 0810 Z -- Nominal (Was GEOS-3 Contact) GDS - Beginning of pass Goldstone attempts to command S/C in the blind 0821 Z -- GDS End of Pass 1507 0947 Z -- (GEOS-3) Contact - Short burst, strong signal, 1 minute early 0957 Z -- Unsuccessful Hawaii Tranet Contact 1508 1059 Z -- Begin Rev. 1508 1110-1111 Z -- Oakhanger gets two short bursts; first is 7 seconds; second is 4 seconds. Some question about origin of signal. 1509 1239 Z -- Begin Rev. 1509 1303 Z -- ULA tries to command S/C in the blind to reduce non-essential power loads 1510 1420 Z -- Begin Rev. 1510 1426 Z -- BDA Pass - weak signal? - probably LANDSAT 1435 (approx) -- MILA gets a "weak signal" - probably LANDSAT ? -- Alaska Tranet contact - probably GEOS-3 1512 Z -- Ukiah Tranet Beacon attempt - no signal 1511 1601 Z -- Begin Rev. 1511 1611 Z -- Shoe Cove AOS 1615 Z -- Shoe Cove LOS 1618 Z? -- Shoe Cove reports receiving satellite engineering telemetry (5 seconds worth) - Decom of status data not meaningful (time ??) ? -- Japan Tranet contact - probably ___ GEOS-3 _______________ - Day 284 ▄p▄î1537 1246 Z -- End of Eclipse 1538 1321 Z -- Begin Rev. 1538 - Lon. of Ascending node - 20?o\ 1331 Z -- _________ AOS 1-2 sec. contact @ 1336 - decom SAR quick look did not look correct - Ant pointing 105?o\ Az, 45?o\ El. Performed a sector scan 5?o\ in azimuth Estimated time from processed data (did not "see" acquisition in signal AGC) 1344 Z -- _________ LOS ▄▄ OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. TELEPHONE (213) 354-5011 FOR RELEASE THURS., June 22, 1978 2 min., 27 sec. SEASAT-A FLIM CLIP Silent Color Satellite and earth A NEW NASA SATELLITE, WITH THE POTEN- globe models. TIAL OF BENEFITTING ALL USERS OF THE (12 sec.) WORLD'S OCEANS, WILL BEGIN OPERATION IN ORBIT AROUND THE EARTH THIS SUMMER. CU model instruments, THE SATELLITE, CALLED SEASAT-A, IS (6 sec.) VIRTUALLY IMPERVIOUS TO DARKNESS AND WEATHER CONDITIONS. ITS PAYLOAD OF open ocean footage -- 3 MICROWAVE INSTRUMENTS WILL MEASURE shots. WAVE HEIGHTS, CURRENTS, SURFACE (10 sec.) WINDS, TEMPERATURES, ICE FIELDS, COASTAL STORM ACTIVITY, WATER AND CU satellite model. WATER VAPOR IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND THE (10 sec.) SHAPE OF THE OCEANS' SURFACE. CU satellite model. SEASAT IS LAUNCHED BY AN ATLAS (10 sec.) F/AGENA ROCKET COMBINATION FROM VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST. computer animation IT ASCENDS SOUTHWEST OVER THE PACIFIC from launch--global. TO A CIRCULAR ORBIT 500 MILES HIGH (30 sec.) AND INCLINED 18 DEGREES FROM THE POLES. computer animation IN THIS GLOBAL VIEW, SEASAT's INITIAL from launch--global. ORBITS ARE INSCRIBED BY A COMPUTER. (30 sec.) EACH ORBIT IS 100 MINUTES LONG AND THE SATELLITE COMPLETES 14 ORBITS A DAY. MS satellite/w/starfield. CALLED A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT MISSION, IT IS INTENDED TO VALIDATE DATA FROM SEASAT-A'S MICROWAVE SENSORS IN AN EFFORT TO DEVELOP AN OPERATIONAL OCEAN MONITORING SYSTEM OF SATEL- LITES. POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL BENEFICIARIES OF SEASAT DATA ARE THE stock footage open PRINCIPAL INDUSTRIES DEPENDENT ON SEA ocean -- 5 shots. STATE AND WEATHER FORECASTS -- THE (13 sec.) FISHING, SHIPPING AND PETROLEUM COMPANIES. LS ship through clouds. ....SEASAT MAY BE USED IN ROUTING (5 sec.) SHIPS ALONG TIME AND FUEL SAVING SEA ▄p▄î LANES.... commercial fishing ....MAY HELP FISHERMEN FIND MORE PRO- footage. DUCTIVE WATERS.... (8 sec.) offshore oil platform. ....AND LEAD TO MORE EFFICIENT OFF- (6 sec.) SHORE OIL GAS DRILLING OPERATIONS. computer animation. INFORMATION IS TRANSMITTED TO EARTH (18 sec.) ORBIT-BY-ORBIT AND IS STUDIED AS IT IS PROCESSED DURING THE MISSION. HERE, THE COMPUTER LETS US VIEW THE ROTATING EARTH JUST AS IT IS SEEN BY SEASAT'S SENSORS. THIS IS THE THIRD DAY OF THE ONE TO THREE-YEAR MISSION. CU satellite model. THE SEASAT-A PROJECT IS MANAGED BY (10 sec.) THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY FOR THE NASA OFFICE OF SPACE AND TERRES- and TRIAL APPLICATIONS. THE SATELLITE, BUILT BY THE LOCKHEED MISSILES AND MS model/w/starfield. SPACE COMPANY, IS LAUNCHED BY A U.S. (7 sec.) AIR FORCE LAUNCH TEAM. NASA logo. ###