RapidScat

Launch data: Designation  98067 (14056) Launch date  21 Sep 2014 Launch site  CC, SLC-40 Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 v1.1 Mission  ISS component

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer   Platform   Operator  NASA Mass at launch   kg Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (cm)  124 x 117 x 211 cm Equipment   Burned up  13 Jan 2018

RapidScat Installation

Description:

• ISS-RapidScat was an instrument mounted to the International Space Station′s Columbus module that measured wind speeds. It was launched aboard SpaceX CRS-4 in September 2014 and operated until August 2016. ISS-RapidScat was a scatterometer designed to support weather forecasting by bouncing microwaves off the ocean′s surface to measure wind speed. It featured a 75 cm (30 in) rotating radar dish that operated at 13.4 GHz (Ku band). It could collect data between 51.6 degrees north and south latitude, with a swath 900 km wide (560 mi).

Mission details:

• The scatterometer was launched as external cargo aboard the SpaceX CRS-4 mission on 21 September 2014, and attached to the unpressurized section of the Dragon capsule.
  Dragon was berthed to the station on 23 September. The instrument was removed from Dragon, robotically assembled and attached to the exterior of the station′s Columbus module using the station′s robotic arm and DEXTRE manipulator over a two day period on Sept 29 and 30, 2014. It was powered up on 1 October and immediately began gathering data, which was first processed into an uncalibrated product on 3 October. ISS-RapidScat was declared fully operational and its data products properly calibrated on 10 November 2014.
• One of ISS-RapidScat′s first observations was of Tropical Storm Simon off the coast of the Baja California Peninsula on 3 October 2014. It also played a role in observing the Category 5 Hurricane Patricia in October 2015, which was noted as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kn (343 km/h; 213 mph). Data from ISS-RapidScat was disseminated worldwide for use in weather forecasting, and was used by the United States Navy, NOAA, and EUMETSAT, among others.
• On 19 August 2016, the Columbus module, to which ISS-RapidScat was attached and reliant on for resources, suffered a power distribution unit failure, which resulted in ISS-RapidScat shutting down. This was followed by an electrical overload in the power distribution unit during recovery efforts. Attempts to restore the instrument were without success, and NASA formally terminated operations on 28 November 2016. No replacement or successor device was planned.
  
  

  ISS-RapidScat instrument. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Johnson Space Center.

  
  
• ISS-RapidScat was removed from the Columbus module on 1 January 2018 and stowed inside the SpaceX CRS-13 Dragon trunk for disposal during re-entry.
• The Dragon CRS-13 trunk carries the TSIS solar observatory and the SDS space debris sensor. TSIS will be installed on ELC3; SDS will go on the Columbus external payload location replacing RapidScat.
  The CRS-13 trunk, with Rapidscat, burned up at around 1514 UTC on Jan 13, 2018 over the Pacific.

External links:

• Nasa: Description
• Wikipedia: Information