APOD
The Shuttle Launches an Inflatable Antenna
May 25, 1996
About This Image
High above the Earth the Space Shuttle Endeavor launches a new type of instrument - an inflatable antenna. The officially designated Inflatable Antenna Experiment was released Monday, May 20th, as part of a Spartan satellite - which contains many scientific experiments. The antenna is roughly the size of a tennis court and is even visible from Earth. At the end of the mission, the antenna will be jettisoned while the rest of the Spartan is recovered by the Shuttle. The function of an antenna is to broadcast radio messages, and the large dish at the end helps focus radio waves into a narrow beam which can be detected over long distances.
On This Day in Space History
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.
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