
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Stretching into the cloud-streaked sky is this new C-band, 3 megawatt radar with a 50-foot dish antenna recently installed on north Kennedy Space Center. It is one of the largest of its kind in the world, providing higher definition imagery than has ever been available before. Working in concert with two new NASA-owned X-band radars mounted on the solid rocket booster retrieval ships, tracking the space shuttle and expendable launch vehicles with this new capability will provide more detail than NASA has ever observed by radar before. The first use of this C-band radar will be for the launch of the Atlas V rocket sending the New Horizons probe toward Pluto. The radar is operated under a NASA contract with the U.S. Navy who owns the radar.
Most NASA images are in the public domain and free to use. Credit NASA as the source. Check NASA's media usage guidelines for details. Images featuring identifiable individuals may require additional permissions.
NASA ID
KSC-06pd0026
Date Created
January 12, 2006
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Kennedy Space Center, FL
Download this image in multiple resolutions. All NASA media are free for public use.
Large
1920px