Aug. 16, 1995
Brian Dunbar
NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C.  
Phone:  202/358-0873

Allen Kenitzer
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD  20771
Phone:  301/286-8955

Release No.  95-145

NASA TECHNOLOGY INSTRUMENTAL IN LIFE-SAVING DURING HURRICANE ERIN

	An instrument that was conceptualized and originally developed at 
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., played a vital role 
in saving the lives of eight people during Hurricane Erin.  

	The Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) instrument 
is carried aboard the NOAA (TIROS) series of satellites and serves as part 
of an international satellite system for search and rescue.  When a radio 
transmitter beacon is activated by a marine vessel on the open sea or by 
an airplane crash, the SARSAT Instrument receives the radio signal and 
transmits it to the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Coast Guard, who undertake 
rescue operations.

	On Aug. 2, at 10:37 a.m. EDT, the SARSAT System detected an 
emergency signal from a ship 84 nautical miles northeast of Cape 
Canaveral, Fla.  The "Club Royale" casino ship was caught in bad 
weather and was sinking.  The "Club Royale" crew had manually 
activated the beacon.  The Seventh U.S. Coast Guard District in 
Miami responded with aircraft that located the beacon and sighted 
life rafts in the water.  The U.S. Coast Guard then dispatched three 
cutters and two helicopters and a C-130 aircraft to the scene.  


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	"The crew was very fortunate to have the beacon with them," said 
Ron Wallace, Search and Rescue Mission Manager, Goddard Space Flight Center.
"They apparently were unable to use other on-board communication devices 
and the beacon, designed as a  'last ditch' communications device, was the 
only way to call for help."
	 

	The system worked as designed, Wallace added.  The instrument 
on-board the satellite relayed the distress beacon message to the NOAA 
Earth station in Suitland, which was the nearest ground terminal.  The 
message then was automatically passed on to U.S. Coast Guard in Miami on 
the basis of the beacon location.  

	"The emergency position indicating radio beacon takes the 'search' 
out of 'search and rescue' operations," said Lt. Cmdr. Marcus Woodring, U.S. 
Coast Guard Seventh District.

	Eight of the 11 people were rescued and taken safely to shore.  
A search for three others was carried out over the nextseveral days, but 
eventually was suspended, with two men still missing, according to the 
Coast Guard.

	In the early 1970s, Goddard performed experiments to determine 
whether or not it was possible for satellites to accurately locate 
transmitters on the ground.  The theories were verified using data buoys 
and ground radio beacons transmitting to a NASA Nimbus-3 satellite 
receiver, and the principle later was applied to search and rescue.  

	SARSAT is part of an international satellite system for Search and 
Rescue.  It consists of satellites in polar orbit and a network of Earth 
stations which provide distress alert and location information to 
appropriate rescue authorities, anywhere in the world, for maritime, 
aviation and land users in distress.  

	NASA Goddard is responsible for the construction, integration and 
launch of NOAA  satellites.  Operational control of the spacecraft is 
turned over to NOAA after it is checked out on orbit, normally 21 days 
after launch.  The NOAA satellite scarry seven scientific instruments and 
two for Search and Rescue.  


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