Bengaluru (PTI): The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is set to be launched in the first quarter of 2024 after a few tests, particularly those related to vibration, NASA officials have said.

"ISRO is projecting the first quarter of next year. So, I mean, that's ready," NASA NISAR Project Manager Phil Barela said during a media interaction here on Wednesday.

He is expecting the launch of NISAR (spelt as 'Naisar') "not earlier than January" from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota aboard the ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-II.

The mission, which has three-year duration, aims to survey all of Earth's land and ice-covered surfaces every 12 days. This will start after a 90-day satellite commissioning period.

Regarding the key tests that are pending to be undertaken, Barela said, "The vibration testing that's underway, but there's a whole slew of performance tests that we need to do."

Battery and simulation tests have to be done to make sure that the system works fine, he said.

"...we'll be doing performance testing on the radars and various spacecraft electronics. So, a lot of testing remains but the big environments test, the only one remaining now, is vibration," Barela said.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Dr Laurie Leshin said the NISAR project is "better than anything that was flown in the past".

"While there are datasets from past missions that can form sort of a baseline, this is a new level of capability that we will have with NISAR," she had told reporters on Tuesday.

"If it's working very well, we will almost certainly extend that mission to get that longer baseline. It is a very important thing to see the Earth change on multi-year timescales. This is what we are looking for," Leshin had said.

According to ISRO, NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being jointly developed by it and NASA.

NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data for understanding changes in the Earth's ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards, including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides.

In a handout, NASA said the project aims to understand the dynamics of carbon storage and uptake in wooded, agricultural, wetland and permafrost ecosystems and the response of ice sheets to climate change, the interaction of sea ice and climate, and impacts on sea level rise worldwide.

NISAR will have Synthetic Aperture Radar Instrument (SAR), L-band SAR, S-band SAR and Antenna reflector.

According to NASA, the onboard instruments can even see a minor change of even one centimetre from space.

The SUV-size satellite has a mass of roughly 2,800 kg, which will be powered by two solar arrays providing about four kilowatts of power.

The six feet tall spacecraft bus' will contain the command and communication systems for the instrument payload, which houses the two SAR instruments.

"The bus' will also support the radar antenna reflector and its boom. There is enough fuel aboard to support at least five years of operations," the handout said.

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Gayaji (PTI): A woman here has alleged that she was gang-raped inside an ambulance which drove her to a hospital after she fainted during a government recruitment test, police said on Saturday.

Two persons, identified by the complainant who had appeared at a recruitment drive for home guards, have been arrested, they said.

"When the woman fainted, on July 24, she was rushed to the Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital at Gayaji in an ambulance. After she regained consciousness, she alleged that she was raped inside the vehicle," said SP (Town), Gayaji Ramanand Kumar Kaushal.

"We thereafter detained the driver and a technician who were in the ambulance. The woman also identified them. Their reply was not satisfactory, so they were arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Samhita," he added.

Kaushal said the medical examination of the complainant has been completed, and based on the findings of the reports, further action will be taken.

Meanwhile, the incident drew strong criticism from Union minister Chirag Paswan, who supports the NDA government in the state, as well as the opposition.

Before leaving for Gayaji to address a rally, Paswan told reporters in Patna, "The incident is deplorable. The guilty may have been caught, but the administration is obviously unable to prevent such crimes. The situation is scary, and I regret that I am supporting a regime that is incapable of controlling law and order."

Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, shared on X a news clipping of the incident with the hashtag "vote out of power the Nitish Kumar government to protect the girl child (Nitish sarkar Hatao beti bachao).

The RJD leader also alleged that Bihar was under the "rule of demons (rakshas raj)" and accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and "his two so-called deputies" of a "criminal silence" on such incidents.

State Congress president Rajesh Kumar alleged, "The incident at Gayaji is reflective of a collapse in law and order, which is not surprising given the unruly behaviour of the ruling dispensation as witnessed in the recently held assembly session. Our party is committed to ensuring that the girl gets justice."