Page 26 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

Scientific experiments
The orbiter is an excellent space taxi, designed to carry large payloads and release satellites or gather failed satellites and repair them. But it is capable of being a space laboratory in its own right.
As an example, the Shuttle has been used to produce a three-dimensional map of the Earth, something that would never before have been possible.
To do this, the payload bay doors are equipped with a transmitter and receiver, while another receiver is placed 60 m out on a long boom, or arm. By sending and receiving rAdAr waves from this equipment, a complete three- dimensional map of 80% of the world has been produced. Only the poles have not been mapped.
Main antenna
 There have been two disasters with the Space Shuttles. One, Challenger, shown here, blew apart in 1986 just after takeoff. The other, Columbia, broke up on reentry in 2003.
This picture shows Challenger’s left wing, main engines (still burning residual propellant), and the forward fuselage (crew cabin) hurtling out of the smoke at
78 seconds into the flight.
For more on radar and mapping see Volume 8: What satellites see.
 Using the orbiter for mapping the world.
Outboard antenna
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One set of reflected signals is collected in a boom held 60m out from the orbiter (red)
Orbiter transmits (white)
One set of reflected signals is collected in a receiver in the orbiter (red)