September 24, 2014
Scientists will soon have another tool to monitor ocean wind speed and direction. The NASA ISS – RapidScat scatterometer has been launched by SpaceX on a Falcon9 rocket and is headed to the International Space Station. Once this is operational we will be able to better monitor tropical storms, hurricanes and typhoons.
This mission was accomplished in just 18 months to take advantage of a planned ISS resupply launch. The team retrofitted existing hardware from the 1990’s to save time and reduce costs. Learn more about this program at the JPL Winds site.