The science payload of NISAR, or the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, jointly built by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to be shipped out to southern India, the Earth science satellite's last stop before it is launched into orbit. Before NISAR is shipped to India, members of the media, and dignitaries from NASA, ISRO, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Indian Embassy were invited to a send-off ceremony on February 3, 2023, to see the satellite's science instrument payload in a JPL clean room in Southern California. The dignitaries included ISRO Chairman S Somanath and JPL Director Laurie Leshin, among others. 


The science instrument payload will be transported to southern India for integration with the spacecraft bus, and to conduct further testing. NISAR will be launched in 2024. 


In a statement released by NASA, Leshin said this marks an important milestone in NASA and ISRO's shared journey to better understand planet Earth and its changing climate. She added that NISAR will provide critical information on Earth's crust, ice sheets and ecosystems, and by delivering measurements at unprecedented precision, NISAR's promise is new understanding and positive impact in communities. 


Leshin further said that NASA's collaboration with ISRO exemplifies what is possible when complex challenges are tackled together. 


The dignitaries toured the High Bay 2 clean room, where they saw engineers and technicians putting the science instrument payload through final electrical testing. 


"Today, we come one step closer to fulfilling the immense scientific potential NASA and ISRO envisioned for NISAR when we joined forces more than eight years ago," Somanath was quoted as saying by NASA. 


"This mission will be a powerful demonstration of the capability of radar as a science tool and help us study Earth's dynamic land and ice surfaces in greater detail than ever before," he added. 


All about NISAR


NISAR is an Earth-observing mission aimed at making global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface changes using advanced radar imaging. NASA and ISRO are providing two radars that are optimised to allow the NISAR mission to observe a wide range of surface changes. 


According to NASA, NISAR will be the first radar of its kind in space to systematically map Earth, using two different radar frequencies namely L-band and S-band. 


NISAR's data will be useful because it will help people worldwide better manage natural resources and hazards. Moreover, scientists will be able to better understand the effects and pace of climate change. 


The mission will also increase our understanding of Earth's crust.


NISAR will measure the changing ecosystems of our planet, ice masses, and dynamic surfaces. The mission will also provide information about biomass, natural hazards, groundwater, and the rise in sea level. 


The mission is expected to be launched in 2024, and has a planned duration of three years.


NISAR has a drum-shaped reflector antenna almost 12 metres in diameter, which will gather radar data. The satellite will observe changes in Earth's land and ice surfaces down to fractions of an inch using a signal-processing technique called interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR. This is a radar technique which generates maps of surface deformation using the differences in the phase of waves returning to the satellite. 


NISAR will help researchers measure the ways in which Earth is constantly changing by detecting both subtle and dramatic events, and provide data about slow-moving variations of a land surface which can precede earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides. Data about slow-moving variations can help communities prepare for natural hazards. 


NISAR will also measure melting sea ice and ice sheets. This will improve the understanding of the pace and impacts of climate change, including sea level rise.


The satellite will also observe Earth's forest and agricultural regions to improve the world's knowledge of carbon exchange between the atmosphere and plant communities. This will help researchers develop better models to project future climate.


NISAR will observe nearly the entire Earth every 12 days. The satellite will make observations day and night, in all weather conditions.