Title: DC-8 Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar
Designer: Mark Pestana and Walter Klein
Year it was designed: 2004
Explanation or story behind the logo: The logo represents the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR) 2004 Mesoamerica three-week expedition by an international team of scientists that used the AirSAR in a mission ranging from the tropical rain forests of Central America to frigid Antarctica. AirSAR was designed and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which also managed the AirSAR project. AirSAR was a NASA radar technology testbed for demonstrating new radar technology and acquiring data for the development of radar processing techniques and applications. As part of NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise, AirSAR first flew in 1988, and flew its last mission in 2004. The NASA DC-8 was equipped with JPL’s SAR for a campaign from Costa Rica (Central American Rain Forest health) to Punta Arenas, Chile (Antarctic Ice Sheet survey). This image is on a T-shirt co-designed by DC-8 crew members Mark Pestana (pilot and flight engineer) and Walter Klein (mission manager). As a by-product of the radar’s ability to discern patterns through the rain forest imagery, ancient Mayan settlements in Guatemala were discovered, eventually leading ground teams of archeologists to the sites. (note: the Mayan calendar appears on the logo). Here’s a link to more info: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2004/76.cfm