Page 37 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

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FIGURE 1.1 The Magellan spacecraft. (Courtesy Hughes Corp.)

scientific instrument aboard Magellan. Even before the first cycle
ended, in mid-1991, Magellan had mapped 84 percent of Venus’
surface, returning more digital data than all previous U.S. planetary
missions combined, with resolutions ten times better than those
provided by earlier missions. To optimize radar performance, a
unique and simple computer software program was developed,
capable of handling nearly 950 commands per cycle. Each cycle takes
one Venusian day, which is the equivalent of 243 Earth days.
If only simple adequate sensors had been in place, such a dispro-
portional disaster like the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (Fig. 1.2), could
have been avoided or reduced.