<s>
Seasat	B-Algorithm
was	O
the	O
first	O
Earth-orbiting	O
satellite	B-Application
designed	O
for	O
remote	B-Application
sensing	I-Application
of	O
the	O
Earth	O
's	O
oceans	O
and	O
had	O
on	O
board	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
spaceborne	O
synthetic-aperture	B-Application
radar	I-Application
(	O
SAR	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mission	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
demonstrate	O
the	O
feasibility	O
of	O
global	O
satellite	B-Application
monitoring	O
of	O
oceanographic	O
phenomena	O
and	O
to	O
help	O
determine	O
the	O
requirements	O
for	O
an	O
operational	O
ocean	O
remote	B-Application
sensing	I-Application
satellite	B-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seasat	B-Algorithm
was	O
managed	O
by	O
NASA	O
's	O
Jet	O
Propulsion	O
Laboratory	O
and	O
was	O
launched	O
on	O
27	O
June	O
1978	O
into	O
a	O
nearly	O
circular	O
orbit	O
with	O
an	O
inclination	O
of	O
108°	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seasat	B-Algorithm
operated	O
until	O
10	O
October	O
1978	O
(	O
UTC	O
)	O
,	O
when	O
a	O
massive	O
short	B-Application
circuit	I-Application
in	O
the	O
Agena-D	O
bus	O
electrical	O
system	O
ended	O
the	O
mission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seasat	B-Algorithm
carried	O
five	O
major	O
instruments	O
designed	O
to	O
return	O
the	O
maximum	O
information	O
from	O
ocean	O
surfaces	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Synthetic	B-Application
aperture	I-Application
radar	I-Application
(	O
SAR	O
)	O
L-band	O
,	O
HH	O
polarization	O
,	O
fixed	O
look	O
angle	O
to	O
monitor	O
the	O
global	O
surface	O
wave	O
field	O
and	O
polar	O
sea	O
ice	O
conditions	O
{	O
the	O
antenna	O
is	O
the	O
light	O
parallelogram	O
in	O
the	O
picture}	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
later	O
remote	B-Application
sensing	I-Application
missions	O
benefited	O
from	O
Seasat	B-Algorithm
's	O
legacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
imaging	O
radars	O
flown	O
on	O
NASA	O
's	O
Space	O
Shuttle	O
,	O
altimeters	O
on	O
Earth-orbiting	O
satellites	B-Application
such	O
as	O
TOPEX/Poseidon	O
,	O
and	O
scatterometers	O
on	O
ADEOS	O
I	O
,	O
QuikSCAT	O
,	O
and	O
Jason-1	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
35th	O
anniversary	O
of	O
Seasat	B-Algorithm
's	O
launch	O
,	O
the	O
Alaska	O
Satellite	B-Application
Facility	O
released	O
newly	O
digitized	O
Seasat	B-Algorithm
synthetic	B-Application
aperture	I-Application
radar	I-Application
(	O
SAR	O
)	O
imagery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Until	O
this	O
release	O
,	O
Seasat	B-Algorithm
SAR	O
data	O
were	O
archived	O
on	O
magnetic	O
tapes	O
,	O
and	O
images	O
processed	O
from	O
the	O
tapes	O
were	O
available	O
only	O
as	O
optical	O
images	O
of	O
film	O
strips	O
or	O
scanned	O
digital	O
images	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Seasat	B-Algorithm
is	O
claimed	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
able	O
to	O
detect	O
the	O
wakes	O
of	O
submerged	O
submarines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
conspiracy	O
theory	O
holds	O
that	O
when	O
this	O
capability	O
was	O
discovered	O
,	O
the	O
mission	O
was	O
ended	O
for	O
national	O
security	O
reasons	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
mission	O
was	O
falsely	O
blamed	O
on	O
catastrophic	O
failure	O
of	O
the	O
satellite	B-Application
's	O
electric	O
power	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequent	O
ocean-observing	O
SAR	B-Application
satellites	I-Application
with	O
higher	O
resolutions	O
and	O
sensitivities	O
have	O
not	O
exhibited	O
this	O
claimed	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
