The radar payload of NISAR, the ambitious joint space project of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is scheduled to arrive to India by February 2023, said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate, while delivering a talk organised at the Indian Institute of Science (IISC) on Wednesday.
NISAR will help scientists to study aspects like the structural changes on the surface of the earth, climate change and prediction of hazardous events, amongst others.
NISAR, short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), is currently being developed at a lab in Pasadena, California, USA. The team from NASA said that while the radar payload is fully electrically integrated, the work is underway for the 12 metre deployable boom and reflect radar antenna. “We are now going into testing stages – both launch configuration and functional testing – post which, the whole thing will be shifted back to India for integration on to the spacecraft and then on to the watch vehicle and the launch,” a scientist explained.
