The metric camera mission of Spacelab 1 and further plans for satellite earth observation missions in the Federal Republic of Germany

The ESA Spacelab 1 mission involves two experiments: (1) photography with the 30-cm focal length Zeiss RMK 30/23 aerial survey camera; and (2) a German-built microwave scatterometer which can operate in a sidelooking radar mode with a 20-m ground pulse resolution. The paper is concerned with the metric camera experiment, the Spacelab 1 mission, and attainable ground resolution. The attainable ground resolution has been estimated by modulation transfer functions of the camera optics, image motion and film. This has determined the choice of the 30-cm focal length for the camera. Nothing would have been gained in ground resolution by using an existing 60-cm focal length camera. A program for future missions including a special camera with image motion compensation and a longer focal length, operable in vacuum with ample film supplies, has already been conceived in the Atlas program