ISS RapidScat Installation

iss041e047260 (9/29/2014) --- A view of the removal of the RapidScat Nadir Adapter from the SpaceX-4 Dragon trunk and installation of the adapter onto the Columbus Exposed Facility Unit (EFU). ISS-RapidScat is a space-based scatterometer that replaces the inoperable SeaWinds payload aboard the QuickSCAT satellite. Scatterometers are radar instruments that measure wind speed and direction over the ocean, and are useful for weather forecasting, hurricane monitoring, and observations of large-scale climate phenomena such as El Niño. The ISS RapidScat instrument enhances measurements from other international scatterometers by cross-checking their data, and demonstrates a unique way to replace an instrument aboard an aging satellite. External Caption