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Seasats

Seasats, also known as Seasat-A, was a NASA satellite mission launched to observe the Earth's oceans from space. It was designed to test and demonstrate a suite of instruments capable of measuring sea surface height, wind, waves, temperature, and ice from orbit. The satellite was launched on June 10, 1978, from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Delta launch vehicle and operated in a near-polar, sun-synchronous low Earth orbit with a repeat ground track.

The Seasats payload included a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for high-resolution imaging of sea state and sea

Seasats operated for about 106 days, delivering a wealth of data before a power-system fault curtailed operations.

ice,
a
radar
altimeter
for
measuring
sea
surface
height
and
wave
heights,
a
scatterometer
for
wind
speed
and
direction,
and
several
radiometers
for
oceanographic
temperature
and
other
radiometric
observations.
The
mission
aimed
to
provide
a
comprehensive,
multi-instrument
view
of
ocean
dynamics
and
sea-ice
conditions,
contributing
to
the
understanding
of
global
ocean
processes
and
climate
interactions.
Despite
the
limited
duration,
the
mission
demonstrated
many
techniques
and
observation
concepts
that
influenced
the
design
of
later
oceanography
satellites.
The
Seasats
program
is
regarded
as
a
milestone
in
space-based
oceanography
and
remote
sensing,
illustrating
the
feasibility
and
value
of
continuous
ocean
monitoring
from
space
and
shaping
the
development
of
subsequent
missions
such
as
TOPEX/Poseidon
and
ERS-series
satellites.