Muses platform delivers first hyperspectral images

10 Oct 2018

Revealing analysis of Alabama’s landscape achieved by Teledyne’s Earth-scanning Muses platform.

Sweet home Alabama: the DESIS instrument is expected to reveal vital information about agriculture, climate change, geology and water ecosystems.

The first hyperspectral images from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) Hyperspectral Imager have now been received and transmitted back to Earth from the International Space Station.

The imager, designed by DLR, is the first payload hosted aboard the Teledyne Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) platform. DESIS is a hyperspectral sensor system that can record image data using 235 closely-arranged wavelength channels across the visible to near-infrared spectrum.

The instrument was developed in collaboration with Teledyne Brown Engineering to maximize efficiencies and functionality aboard the platform on the ISS. With continuous coverage at an altitude approximately 250 miles above the Earth, the DESIS instrument will be used to broaden knowledge of agriculture, climate change, geology and water ecosystems.

Jan Hess, President of Teledyne Brown Engineering, stated, “The successful integration of these two systems on the ISS is a testament to Teledyne Brown Engineering’s experience as a provider of world-class space systems and scientific instruments. Seeing these images sent from low Earth orbit in less than 48 hours from installation is a monumental achievement for both MUSES and DESIS.”

The hyperspectral images received from DESIS will be available through partnerships with DLR, NASA, the Alabama Remote Sensing Consortium and commercially available through Teledyne Brown Engineering. DESIS launched on June 29, 2018, and was installed on August 27, 2018. The system began sending images to earth on August 29, 2018.

Data collected by this instrument will allow scientists, students and researchers to examine materials that make up the Earth and changes in its conditions. These data are expected to assist with a variety of applications for the advancement of science as well as humanitarian efforts.