2008 Annual Report - NASA Airborne Science Program

development and testing of more than two
dozen advanced sensors. These sensors
were evaluated both for their capabilities for
airborne remote sensing science and data
requirements, but also for their potential
use as spaceborne systems such as the initial
earth resources and weather satellites.
In the September of 1968 JSC contracted
with the Bendix Corporation of Ann
Arbor, Michigan, for the development of
a 24-channel Multi-spectral Scanner and
an associated Data System (MSDS). This
development was funded by UPN 640,
the Earth Resources Aircraft Program.
The system was ground-breaking in many
respects, and was crucial and enabling in
design and band selection for the impending
launch of the LandSat satellite. The principal
objectives of the MSDS data acquisition
program included:
• Acquiring multi-spectral data
simultaneously.
• Establishing the various spectral bands
that provide useful information for a
variety of disciplines.
• Defining means of correlating the
recorded images with radiometric and
spectrometric laboratory and field
measurement data.
• Gathering correlative measurements with
data from other sensors on the ground,
aboard aircraft, and spacecraft.
The sensor system was integrated into the C-
130 aircraft and flight-tested during late 1970,
if I remember correctly.
International Cooperation
Starting in the seventies, concentrated
effort was directed towards finding ways to
improve the management of the environment,
to ensure the quality of life for all inhabitants
of the planet earth. Attention had already
been focused on those applications of space
technology that direct tangible direct benefits
for society in general. Surveys of the earth’s
resources from spacecraft and aircraft were
then receiving particularly close attention.
Since those programs by their very nature
were global in scope, their success could best
be achieved if conducted on an international
scale. Considerable thought had already
been given to ways to involve other nations,
through multilateral agreements, to carry out
earth survey activities.
An earth survey program that was thought
to have great promise for widespread
economic benefits was the Earth Resources
Technology Satellite (ERTS) program. The
program represented the first U.S. effort to
obtain earth data from space on a regular
and continuing basis.
The first U.S. involvement in an international
program of Earth observations was initiated
in February 1968, when cooperative aircraft
survey research programs were negotiated
with Mexico and Brazil. The programs
were divided into four implementation
phases extending through June of 1970. The
objectives were to familiarize personnel
from these countries with the acquisition,
processing, reduction, and analysis of remotely
sensed Earth resources data.
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