NSSDCA ID: 1973-027A-17
Mission Name: SkylabThe S190 Skylab experiment was designed to photograph regions of the earth's surface, including oceans, in a range of wavelengths from near infrared through the visible. The facility had two parts: the multispectral photographic cameras (S190A) that simultaneously photographed the same area, each viewing a different wavelength, and the earth terrain camera (S190B) which was a single-lens camera. The S190A experiment consisted of six high-precision 70-mm cameras. The matched distortion and focal length camera array contained forward motion compensation to correct for spacecraft motion. The f/2.8 lenses, with a focal length of 6 in., had a field of view of 21.1 deg providing a square surface coverage of about 163 km on each side from the 435-km altitude. The system was designed for the following wavelength/film combinations: (1) 0.5-0.6 micrometer, Panatomic-X B+W, (2) 0.6-0.7 micrometer, Panatomic-X B+W, (3) 0.7-0.8 micrometer, IR B+W, (4) 0.8-0.9 micrometer, IR B+W, (5) 0.5-0.88 micrometer, IR color, and (6) 0.4-0.7 micrometer, high-resolution color. The spectral regions designated were selected to separate the visible and photographic infrared spectrum into bands that were expected to be most useful for multispectral analysis of earth surface features. Further spectral refinements were made by using different filter combinations. This camera system provided photos with a ground resolution of 30 to 46 m in the visible wavelengths and 73 to 79 m in the infrared wavelengths. The S190B camera utilized a single 18-in focal length lens with 5-in. film. Its field of view of 14.2 deg provided a surface coverage of about 109 km by 109 km. This camera was designed to use high-resolution color film and was operated from the OWS sal window, producing photos with a ground resolution of 17 to 30 m. The camera compensated for spacecraft forward motion through programmed camera rotation. Shutter speeds were selectable at 5, 7, and 10 msec with a curtain velocity of 110 in./s. For information of data availability, contact the EROS Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
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Name | Role | Original Affiliation | |
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Dr. Kenneth J. Demel | Principal Investigator | NASA Johnson Space Center |