The next free Space Shuttle Mission 2007 add-on is the famous Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), STS-99. STS-99 started with the Endeavour launch on February 11, 2000 which began the high-resolution data-collection part of the SRTM earth topographic mapping project. The project was spearheaded by NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, with the cooperation of the German Aerospace Center DLR.
The payload consisted of sophisticated C-Band and X-Band interferometeric synthetic aperture radars which included a special extensible boom that allowed for acquiring extremely accurate 3D radar images of the Earth on the band between 600N and 560S. The resolution achieved with the system produced a database with an accuracy of 30x30m spatial sampling + 16m absolute vertical altitude and 20m absolute horizontal circular +10m relative vertical altitude.
During the mission, the Shuttle acquired close to 1 Trillion raw measurements of the Earth's topography, which were later processed, optimized and arranged in a usable and standardized format. The resulting extremely accurate and complete topography database contributed - among others - to better GIS, Flight Simulator Scenery (including MSFS), transportation safety and communication networks optimization.
STS-99 concluded with a safe landing at the Kennedy Space Center on February 22, 2000.
In the best SSM2007 tradition, the STS-99 free add-on will allow budding Virtual Astronauts to experience the launch, on-orbit mission including the deployment and operation of the special radar equipment, and return to Earth by manually landing the Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Space Shuttle Mission 2007™ is available online in downloadable format at the SSM2007 official web site: www.space-shuttle-mission.com.
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