MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 PHOTO CAPTION P-49953BC July 8, 1998 This is a view of the 60-meter (200-foot) long mast that is part of the upcoming Shuttle Radar Topography Mission after it has been fully extended during tests at AEC-Able Engineering Company, Inc. in Goleta, CA. In the foreground is the canister where the mast is stored. The box-like structure surrounding the mast in the background is a thermal test chamber. Set for launch on the space shuttle in September 1999, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is designed to collect three-dimensional images of nearly 80 percent of the Earth's land surface, except near the poles, with a resolution of 30 meters (98 feet). To collect the 3-D data, engineers will add the 60-meter- long (200-foot) mast, additional radar antenna, and improved navigation devices to the original Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C hardware, which flew twice on the shuttle in 1994. The mission is a cooperative project between NASA and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, and is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.