In a clever reuse of hardware originally built to test parts
of NASA's QuikScat satellite, the agency will launch the ISS-RapidScat
instrument to the International Space Station in 2014 to measure ocean surface
wind speed and direction.
The ISS-RapidScat instrument will help improve weather forecasts,
including hurricane monitoring, and understanding of how ocean-atmosphere
interactions influence Earth's climate.
"The ability for NASA to quickly reuse this hardware
and launch it to the space station is a great example of a low-cost approach that
will have high benefits to science and life here on Earth," said Mike
Suffredini, NASA's International Space Station program manager.