STS-59 Patch

STS-59 Patch Launch Highlights Launch originally set for April 7 was postponed at the T-27 hour mark for one day to allow for additional inspections of metallic vanes in the space shuttle main engine (SSME) high pressure oxidizer preburner pumps. Launch on April 8 scrubbed due to weather, high crosswinds and low clouds at Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) and clouds at launch pad. Countdown April 9 proceeded smoothly. Mission Highlights Primary payload was the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-1), located in payload bay; activated by crew and operated by teams on ground. SRL-1 included the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C and the X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) and an atmospheric instrument called Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites (MAPS). The German Space Agency (DARA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) provided the X-SAR instrument. SIR-C/X-SAR covered approximately 38.5 million miles of the Earth, the equivalent of 20 percent of the planet. More than 400 sites were imaged,