NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)
2021 MAR 30
Preliminary >
Science and Technology > Space technology > Basics of space technology
Why in news?
- NISAR satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
About NISAR:
- The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite.
- The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequencies.
- It will be used for remote sensing, to observe and understand natural processes on Earth, like those on the Antarctic cryosphere.
- With a total cost estimated at US$1.5 billion, NISAR is likely to be the world's most expensive Earth-imaging satellite.
- It is designed to observe and measure some of the planet's most complex natural processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.
- The partnership agreement was signed between NASA and ISRO in September 2014.
- NASA will provide one of the radars for the satellite, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers and a payload data subsystem.
- ISRO, on the other hand, will provide the spacecraft bus, the second type of radar (called the S-band radar), the launch vehicle and associated launch services.
Prelims Question
Consider the following statements regarding NISAR, a satellite recently in news:
1.It’s a joint project between India and Japan.
2.It is primarily an earth observation satellite.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer to the Prelims Question