A small U.S. spacecraft launched in March to test advanced imaging technologies for possible use by next-generation spy satellites has gone to work.

The Multispectral Thermal Imager successfully completed an on-orbit testing period following its deployment into space by an Orbital Sciences Taurus rocket on March 12.

During its three-month checkout, MTI collected ground images of a number of U.S. sites, some of which are included on this page.

MTI satellite image of the Dallas, Texas, area. Photo: Sandia

MTI is sponsored by the Office of Nonproliferation and National Security at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). It will serve as a testbed for futuristic multispectral and thermal imaging.

Scientists say the satellite will attempt to prove the imaging techniques in space for the first time by detecting reflected and thermally radiated electromagnetic waves not visible to the human eye.

Results from the three-year mission could be used to develop future reconnaissance satellites for monitoring facilities on Earth suspected of making nuclear or chemical weapons. Future spy satellites would collect information such as surface temperatures, materials, water quality and vegetation health around the complexes.

"For DOE, the successful transition of MTI to an operational status as an R&D system is of tremendous significance," said Roger Hagengruber, Sandia's senior vice president for National Security and Arms Control. "A whole new capability to investigate arms control and environmental monitoring approaches for the 21st century has been initiated. It is also a credit to the technical strength and teamwork of the DOE's multilab team."

MTI features a cryogenically-cooled telescope that will observe selected ground sites where researchers know the true conditions. The sites will be instrumented by DOE's Savannah River Technology Center and other government agencies with sensors that collect simultaneous "ground truth" data.

Interchange of U.S. Interstates 25 and 40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Photo: Sandia

The images are relayed to MTI's primary communications station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for comparison to determine the effectiveness of the satellite's technologies.

Besides military operations and treaty monitoring, the technology also could be used for environmental and climate research.

A secondary experiment aimed at space weather research also will be tested on MTI. Sponsored by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Czech Republic's Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences, the High-energy X-ray Spectrometer will study solar flares that can damage satellites and threaten astronauts.

Led by Sandia National Laboratories, the MTI project also involves Los Alamos National Laboratory, Savannah River Technology Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Ball Aerospace, Raytheon and TRW.

The Pilgrim Heights area on Cape Cod, Mass. Photo: Sandia