ASK OCE — June 21, 2007 — Vol. 2, Issue 4
On June 28, 1978, Seasat-A was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard an Atlas-Agena launch vehicle.
Seasat-A was the first satellite to make global observations of the Earth’s oceans through the use of active microwave instruments. The satellite was designed to demonstrate techniques for global monitoring of oceanographic phenomena and features, to provide oceanographic data, and to determine key features of an operational ocean-dynamics monitoring system. The major difference between Seasat-A and previous Earth observation satellites was the use of active and passive microwave sensors to achieve an all-weather capability.
After 106 days of returning data, contact with Seasat-A was lost when a short circuit drained all power from its batteries.
In This Issue
Message from the Chief Engineer
Archimedes Archive: The History of U.S. Engineering Standards
This Week in NASA History: Seasat-A
The NASA Technical Standards Program: An Enterprise Approach
Enhancing Standards at DOD: The Defense Standardization Program
The United States Standards Strategy
Ames Partnership To Develop Machine-to-Machine Intelligence System
A View from the Outside: South Korea Nears Completion of First Space Center
