STS-99 Post Flight Presentation

On 31 January 2000, the Space Shuttle Endeavour was launched on a mission to complete the most extensive topographic survey of the Earth's surface to date. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) collected radar data, using a technique called Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry. This data will enable scientists to produce detailed three-dimensional models of 80% of the planet's surface. These will be the first 3D maps of developing countries and large areas of the Earth's sparsely populated desert and forest. Benefits in collecting this data will include improved forecasting of environmental conditions, increased navigational safety, help with urban planning and road construction.

Crew members were Kevin Kregel (NASA), Dominic Gorie (NASA), Janet Kavandi (NASA), Janice Voss (NASA), Mamoru Mohri (NASDA), and Gerhard Thiele (ESA) on his first ever space mission. The SRTM payload is a joint project between NASA, NIMA (National Image and Mapping Agency), DLR (German Aerospace Centre) and ASI (Italian Space Agency).

This video provides a post flight summary of the mission, as follows:

00:05 STS-99 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)

00:08 Launch pad, dusk, Kennedy Space Center, Florida;

00:11 Shuttle crew arriving back to Houston following mission.

00:18 Kevin Kregel gives a short brief of the mission, just back at Houston and presenting the team

00:30 Crew suit up;

01:08 Crew take practise drive on armoured personnel carrier;

01:15 Mamoru Mohri (NASDA)

01:24 Crew leave operations and checkout building;

01:33 Shot of Space Shuttle Endeavour;

01:34 Crew helped into position for launch;

01:42 Shuttle on launch pad;

01:47 Ignition of main engines;

01:58 Various views of launch; interior view of crew at launch; jettison of solid rocket motors; external tank ejection;

02:07 Earth view from shuttle taking off; inside view of astronauts during launch

02:50 View of Shuttle and rockets clouds, and solid rocket boosters burned out

03:24 Ejection of external tank, viewed from the Shuttle

03:29 View of the Earth, very cloudy

03:33 Opening of payload doors; and explanation of what to do right after launch: getting rid of excess heat, open payload data radar and view of radar turning

03:59 Kavandi and Thiele turn on payload systems;

03:59 Extension of long antenna mast;

04:23 Graphic sequences showing mast extension;

04:39 Mast base plate locks;

04: 45 View of mast from Commander's window;

04:53 Graphics of antenna mast deployment;

05:00 Graphics showing antennae alignment and SRTM mapping system; explanation of what is seen by X and C band radars, and how the mapping is performed to cover the Earth surface

05:31 Mohri changes magnetic tapes used to record radar data; 330 tapes were recorded, and had to be changed during the 9-day mission, that is a tape-change every 30min.

05:47 Various footage of crew activities;

06:20 Mast moving; and the so called fly-cast manoeuvre

06:36 Various footage of crew activities; changing tapes again

07:20 Gerhard Thiele (ESA) exercising on a bike; washing hair; Mamoru Mohri (NASDA) exercising on a bike

08:22 Earth views from shuttle - Pacific Ocean through to Bolivia, South America,

08:33 Coral and sand of Bahamas,

08:44 Desert in Mauritania, Africa,

08:55 Irrigation patterns in Saudi Arabia,

09:05 Mount Fuji and Tokyo Bay, Japan,

09:26 Southern Russia and Black Sea,

09:37 Coastline of South America with Ecuador and Peru,

09:45 Mediteranean Sea, Malta, Italy,

09:57 Kamtchatka Peninsula featuring volcanic terrain;

10:07 View of radar mast over Earth; folding of antenna mast; mast fails to close, 2 inches short of complete folding;

10:53 Flight Director at Mission Control Center; closure of mast lip; images from Houston control centre

11:07 Footage of activities on board shuttle including crew dancing;

12:30 View of radar mast with moon background;

12:44 Various views of shuttle approaching Kennedy Space Center; landing sequence;

14:35 Crew pose for cameras with shuttle background;

14:47 Mapping of globe graphic.

14:55 The end