Nisar unfurls antenna reflector in orbit

Time of India

a day ago

Nisar team members at JPL, along with colleagues at ISRO facilities in India. Depicted on the screen at right, the reflector unfurled from 2 feet across in its stowed configuration to its full size, 39 feet, in 37 minutes. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
BENGALURU: A major milestone has been achieved in orbit for Nisar, the joint
Earth-observing satellite
mission from
Nasa
and Isro, as its massive radar antenna reflector was successfully deployed, Nasa's Jet Propulsion System (JPL) has confirmed.
Spanning 12 meters in diameter, the drum-shaped antenna reflector is a critical piece of science hardware for the Nisar mission. Designed to capture precise measurements of Earth's changing surface, the reflector had been tightly stowed since launch on July 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Its successful deployment marks a turning point as the mission prepares to begin full-scale science operations later this year.
Mounted at the end of a 9-meter boom, the reflector began its complex unfolding process on Aug 9, JPL, which is leading the Nisar project from Nasa's side, said, adding that over four days, the boom extended joint by joint.
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'Then, on Aug 15, small explosive bolts that held the reflector assembly in place were fired, enabling the antenna to begin a process called the 'bloom' — its unfurling by the release of tension stored in its flexible frame while stowed like an umbrella. Subsequent activation of motors and cables then pulled the antenna into its final, locked position,' JPL said.
Nisar project manager at JPL Phil Barela said this was the largest antenna reflector ever deployed for a Nasa mission. '...It's a critical component, and seeing it successfully bloom in space is the result of years of design, testing, and collaboration,' Barela added.
Weighing around 64 kilograms, the reflector consists of 123 composite struts and a gold-plated wire mesh. Its large surface area enables the satellite's dual radar systems, Nasa's L-band and Isro's S-band synthetic aperture radars, to scan Earth's surface with exceptional detail. These radar systems allow Nisar to detect changes as small as a few centimeters, even through clouds, vegetation, and darkness.
'Nisar is poised to gather data that will help us understand Earth's dynamic systems like never before. This mission will empower communities and decision-makers with the science they need to improve infrastructure, respond to natural disasters, and strengthen food and water security,' Karen St. Germain, director of Nasa's Earth Science Division, said.
One of the satellite's core capabilities is interferometric SAR imaging, which compares radar images taken over time to track subtle shifts on the ground. This technology will be used to monitor glacial movement, earthquake fault zones, volcanic deformation, and even ecosystem changes in wetlands and forests.
'Synthetic aperture radar works like a camera lens, focusing signals to create sharp images. With SAR, we can generate 3D movies that show how Earth's surface is changing — data that would be impossible to gather with traditional radars,' explained Paul Rosen, Nisar's project scientist at JPL.
Nisar builds on a legacy of radar development at JPL, tracing back to missions like Seasat in 1978 and Magellan, which mapped Venus in the 1990s. 'With its antenna now deployed and systems undergoing final calibrations, Nisar is set to begin delivering science data by late fall,' JPL said.