Objectives and Capabilities of the Skylab S-193 Altimeter Experiment

This paper presents a summary of the experimental objectives and spacecraft instrumentation associated with the S-193 altimeter experiment for the 1973 Skylab mission. The experiment is, in general terms, directed toward geodetic altimetry and the acquisition of technical information needed to improve future precision altimeter designs, remote sensing of oceanographic and surface features, and measurement of basic electromagnetic scattering characteristics. A detailed discussion of the experiments associated with these objectives is given and the paper concludes with a review of the spacecraft hardware characteristics.