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Image Analysis Area

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Purpose: Students monitor the status of their picture requests, and see the pictures as soon as they're available.

Each request is also reviewed at the KidSat Mission Control Gateway (at UCSD) to check the accuracy of the data, to make sure that there is not an overload of requests for a given orbit, and to make sure that there is enough time between each request for the KidSat camera to get ready for the next picture. If there are any problems, the request is sent back to the SMOC (with a description of the problem). The Image Analysis team monitors the Photo List web page, and notifies the Targeting Team if a request has been rejected or a photo not taken.

After your students submit all the requests for a given orbit, the KidSat Gateway consolidates the requests from all SMOCs, and sends the list to NASA, which in turn sends it to the shuttle. The KidSat camera then takes the pictures and stores them in a digital file. Then, when the shuttle is on the nightside of the Earth, the images for that orbit are sent to NASA's ground station, and forwarded to the KidSat data system at JPL.

In other words, within hours of submitting the requests for each orbit, the KidSat camera has taken the pictures, and they're available for your students to see them in your classroom, via the KidSat Data System web page.

The Image Analysis team will monitor the availability of the images, and then display (and possibly print) a select few as they arrive. This will be an exciting moment; be sure your class sees the results of their hard work. You may also have a group of students who proceed directly with a more detailed analysis of the images, perhaps in collaboration with the students in the Reference Area.

However, at this point, most of your students will be so busy selecting new targets, that it will be difficult for them to concentrate on seeing the newly acquired images. So, the more intense image analysis will take place in the days, weeks, and months after the KidSat mission.

Teachers' Handbook Page 30