CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - "There is just a never-ending list" of commercial applications for the radar data that will be collected during Endeavour's mission, according to Jeffrey Plaut, a planetary geologist who is one of more than three dozen researchers on NASA's mission science team.
In less developed nations, planners will be able to use the data to site power lines, dams, roads and drainage systems for agricultural businesses.
Even backpackers stand to benefit from more accurate topographical maps. Armed with improved topographical maps, hikers can chart the best courses before setting out on rugged wilderness trails.
"Unless you know your neighborhood very well, generally you don't go out for a long hike without a map," Plaut said. "For some of these more exotic eco-tourist vacations -- where they take you to Nepal or the Amazon or something like that -- you'll be ready."
With major metropolitan areas around the world growing rapidly, city planners will be able to use the data collected on Endeavour's flight to handle urban sprawl.
"There is a real need for base maps of the topography of an area around a city so that people can start planning where the city will grow, and [know] how it's laid out with regard to the topography," added Thomas Farr, deputy project scientist for the Space Radar Topographical Mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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