S91-50773 (19 Oct 1991) --- At a processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite is being transferred into the payload canister transporter for shipment to Launch Pad 39A at KSC. The DSP will be deployed during Space Shuttle Mission STS-44 later this year. It is a surveillance satellite, developed for the Department of Defense, which can detect missile and space launches, as well as nuclear detonations. The Inertial Upper Stage which will boost the DSP satellite to its proper orbital position is the lower portion of the payload. DSP satellites have comprised the spaceborne segment of NORAD's (North American Air Defense Command) Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment System since 1970. STS- 44, carrying a crew of six, will be a ten-day flight.
STS044-71-011 (25 Nov. 1991) --- A 70mm frame shows pre-deployment view of the Defense Support Payload (DSP), backdropped against a blue and white Earth.
The high-tech art of digital signal processing (DSP) was pioneered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the mid-1960s for use in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designed to computer enhance pictures of the Moon, this technology became the basis for the Landsat Earth resources satellites and subsequently has been incorporated into a broad range of Earthbound medical and diagnostic tools. DSP is employed in advanced body imaging techniques including Computer-Aided Tomography, also known as CT and CATScan, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). CT images are collected by irradiating a thin slice of the body with a fan-shaped x-ray beam from a number of directions around the body's perimeter. A tomographic (slice-like) picture is reconstructed from these multiple views by a computer. MRI employs a magnetic field and radio waves, rather than x-rays, to create images. In this photograph, a patient undergoes an open MRI.
The high-tech art of digital signal processing (DSP) was pioneered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the mid-1960s for use in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designed to computer enhance pictures of the Moon, this technology became the basis for the Landsat Earth resources satellites and subsequently has been incorporated into a broad range of Earthbound medical and diagnostic tools. DSP is employed in advanced body imaging techniques including Computer-Aided Tomography, also known as CT and CATScan, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). CT images are collected by irradiating a thin slice of the body with a fan-shaped x-ray beam from a number of directions around the body's perimeter. A tomographic (slice-like) picture is reconstructed from these multiple views by a computer. MRI employs a magnetic field and radio waves, rather than x-rays, to create images.
The high-tech art of digital signal processing (DSP) was pioneered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the mid-1960s for use in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designed to computer enhance pictures of the Moon, this technology became the basis for the Landsat Earth resources satellites and subsequently has been incorporated into a broad range of Earthbound medical and diagnostic tools. DSP is employed in advanced body imaging techniques including Computer-Aided Tomography, also known as CT and CATScan, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). CT images are collected by irradiating a thin slice of the body with a fan-shaped x-ray beam from a number of directions around the body's perimeter. A tomographic (slice-like) picture is reconstructed from these multiple views by a computer. MRI employs a magnetic field and radio waves, rather than x-rays, to create images.
The high-tech art of digital signal processing (DSP) was pioneered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the mid-1960s for use in the Apollo Lunar Landing Program. Designed to computer enhance pictures of the Moon, this technology became the basis for the Landsat Earth resources satellites and subsequently has been incorporated into a broad range of Earthbound medical and diagnostic tools. DSP is employed in advanced body imaging techniques including Computer-Aided Tomography, also known as CT and CATScan, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). CT images are collected by irradiating a thin slice of the body with a fan-shaped x-ray beam from a number of directions around the body's perimeter. A tomographic (slice-like) picture is reconstructed from these multiple views by a computer. MRI employs a magnetic field and radio waves, rather than x-rays, to create images.
STS044-S-001 (July 1991) --- Designed by the participating crew members, the STS-44 patch shows the space shuttle Atlantis shortly after liftoff as it rolls to ascend into orbit. The orbital path illustrated by the red, white and blue of the stylized American flag represents the American contribution and strength derived from this mission. The black background of space, indicative of the mysteries of the universe, is illuminated by six large stars, which depict the American crew of six and the hopes that travel with them. The smaller stars represent the myriad of unheralded Americans who work in support of this mission. Within the shuttle's payload bay is a Defense Support Program (DSP) Satellite which will help insure peace. The stars of the flag symbolize our leadership in an exciting quest of space and the boundless dreams for mankind's future. In the words of a crew spokesman, "the stars of the flag symbolize our leadership in an exciting quest of space and the boundless dreams for humanity's future." The NASA insignia design for space shuttle flights is reserved for use by the astronauts and for other official use as the NASA Administrator may authorize. Public availability has been approved only in the forms of illustrations by the various news media. When and if there is any change in this policy, which is not anticipated, the change will be publicly announced. Photo credit: NASA