The SRTM mission patch was designed and worn by the crew of this mapping mission. The crew created this patch to show how they would map the Earth from space using the mast and radar. The world looks very different from an airplane than it does from the ground. Mountains look like wrinkled curtains. Riverbeds look like jagged scratches.
Farmland looks like a crazy quilt of greens, browns and yellows.
The view from above tells us much about Earth. Scientists decided it would be great to have a 3D model of the world to show the shape of the coastlines, the height of the mountains, the depth of the valleys, and the size of the land and water areas. During its 11-day mission, SRTM collected radar images of nearly 46 million square miles of Earth. The information will be used by the military to rehearse and plan missions. Special public data will be used to study flooding, soil erosion, landslides, earthquakes, weather and climate.