Scientists Delighted by Quality of Endeavour’s Data, Pictures

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — NASA scientists said Saturday that they were delighted with the quality of pictures and other data beamed to Earth from the advanced radar instruments aboard the shuttle Endeavour.

Shuttle imaging equipment was aimed at forests, fields, deserts and oceans, while the six astronauts took matching photographs with a battery of cameras.

The astronauts reported sighting oil field fires in Argentina, a distinct line where the spring thaw has melted snow in Canada, and lightning flashes in violent thunderstorms over the Gulf of Mexico.

Since Endeavour’s launch April 9 on a nine-day mission, instruments it is carrying have filled more than half of the 183 data-recording tapes on board, in addition to sending data to a science control center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“The data quality has been superb,” said Ed Caro, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineer on one of the radar instruments. “You guys don’t get the high-resolution pictures that we’re seeing here, but by the time you land I think it’ll really impress you.”

Another instrument, designed to measure atmospheric carbon monoxide, has worked “almost flawlessly,” said Vickie Connors, a NASA scientist. “Our science has been beyond our wildest dreams.”

Data from the mission is expected to give new understanding of how human activities are affecting the global environment. The instruments will fly again on Endeavour later this year.