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-49951AC July 8, 1998 Mr. Max D. Benton, (center) the president and founder of AEC-Able, the subcontractor responsible for the 60 meter mast that is part of the upcoming Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is flanked by Major General James C. King, acting director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency,(left) and Dr. Edward C. Stone, (right) director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 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.