CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - First controlling, then ultimately dousing wildfires is a job that routinely places firefighters around the world in harm's way. The topographical maps produced as a result of Endeavour's flight are expected to help plot strategies to drop firefighters more safely into the midst of potentially deadly wildfires.

Wildfires are complex and unpredictable phenomena. Their intense heat creates miniature "weather systems" that can almost instantaneously push a fire up a hill, or create an explosive inferno that engulfs smokejumpers who parachute into the most dangerous areas. In 1994, three smokejumpers were among 14 firefighters who died when a fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado unexpectedly "blew up" in 45-m.p.h. (72-kilometer-per-hour) winds that whistled over steep terrain.

"If you know the topography of the land, you'll have a better idea of which way the fire is likely to spread, where the animals are going to run, all kinds of things," Voss said. "You can jump much more safely into the fire and be more effective at fighting it."