launched from USA

STS-99

Success
FEB 11200017:43:00 UTC

Endeavour flew the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, deploying a 60-metre mast from the payload bay to form a radar interferometer with a second antenna in the bay. Over eleven days it mapped nearly 80 percent of Earth's land surface between 56 degrees south and 60 degrees north, producing the first near-global digital elevation model and a dataset that underpinned terrain mapping for years afterward.

launched from LC-39A Kennedy

aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour into LEO

Payload

STS-99

Radar topography

Crew · 6

  • 01 Kevin R. Kregel from USA
  • 02 Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie from USA
  • 03 Gerhard Thiele from Germany
  • 04 Janet L. Kavandi from USA
  • 05 Janice E. Voss from USA
  • 06 Mamoru Mohri from Japan

last updated May 29, 2026