News: The ISRO-NASA joint mission NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, aimed at making global measurement of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging, is proposed to be launched in early 2023. Read the News Here.

Let’s Understand In Simple Language:

NISAR is a joint project to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NISAR stands for “NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar” and is proposed to be launched in early 2023. It is a satellite, aimed at making global measurements of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. India and the US had agreed upon this mission during then-President Barack Obama’s visit to India in 2015.

NISAR is a dual-band (L-band and S-band) radar imaging mission with the capability of full polarimetric and interferometric modes of operation to observe minor changes in land, vegetation, and cryosphere.

NASA will provide one of the radars for the satellite (L-band SAR), a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, and a payload data subsystem. NASA will equip NISAR with the largest ever reflector antenna. On the other hand, ISRO will provide the spacecraft bus, the second type of radar (called the S-band radar), the launch vehicle, and associated launch services.

NISAR’s data can help people worldwide better manage natural resources and hazards, as well as provide information for scientists to better understand the effects and pace of climate change. Moreover, the images captured by the satellite will be so detailed that one can measure the local changes and on the other hand will be broad enough to measure regional changes. It will also add to our understanding of the planet’s crust.

Watch this video to know more about NISAR:

Key Points about NISAR:

1. NISAR is a SUV sized satellite which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.
2. NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the Synthetic Aperture Radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth.
3. SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data all day in any weather.
4. It will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.
5. NISAR will help in tracking subtle changes in the Earth’s surface, spot warning signs of imminent volcanic eruptions, help in monitoring groundwater supplies, and will track the rate at which the ice sheets are melting.

About ISRO:

1. ISRO is the space agency under the Department of Space of Government of India, headquartered in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka.
2. Its vision is to harness space technology for national development, while pursuing space science research and planetary exploration.
3. Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL) is a Marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO.

Spacecrafts launched by ISRO in 2021:

In 2021, ISRO launched a total of three spacecraft as mentioned below:

1. PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1: India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV C51 successfully launched on February 28, 2021 with the main payload — INPE’s Amazônia-1 from Brazil — and 18 other ride-sharing small satellites. Amazonia-1, the optical earth observation satellite of National Institute for Space Research (INPE), would provide remote sensing data to users for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysis of diversified agriculture across the Brazilian territory. The PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 was the first dedicated commercial mission of NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a Government of India company under Department of Space. With this launch, the total number of customer satellites from foreign countries placed in orbit by PSLV is 342 satellites from 34 countries.
2. Indian student satellites UNITYsat and Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT): The PSLV-C51 launch vehicle successfully launched Indian student satellites UNITYsat and Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT) on February 28, 2021. UNITYsat was developed by Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Sriperumbudur (JITsat), GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (GHRCEsat) and Sri Shakti Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore (Sri Shakthi Sat). Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT) was built by Space Kidz India.
3. GSLV-F10/Gisat-1 (renamed to EOS-3): Failed mission:

About NASA:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. It was established under the National Aeronautics and Space Act 1958 and has its headquarters in Washington, DC, USA.

Questions related to the topic:

Q. Consider the following statements about the NISAR mission:

1. It is a joint project between NASA and ISRO
2. It envisages the use of radar imaging satellite to observe and understand natural processes of the Earth.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

a. only 1

b. only 2

c. Both 1 and 2

d. None.

Answer: c)

Q. Consider the following statements about NISAR Satellite:
1. NISAR is a collaborative project of ISRO and NASA.
2. NISAR aims to keep an eye on India border areas and will thus play an important role in India’s security architecture

Choose the correct statements from the option given below:

a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans. a.

Q. Consider the following statements about NISAR (satellite) mission:

1. It is a joint project between NASA and ISRO.
2. The satellite will be the first radar imaging satellite to use dual frequencies.
3. It will be used for remote sensing, to observe and understand natural processes on Earth.

Which of the given above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: d)

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