The two images above show Seasat's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) antenna being unfolded from launch configuration to its full size of 7 x 35 feet. Seasat was launched on June 26, 1978 using an Atlas-Agena rocket. The JPL-managed mission pioneered satellite oceanography, being the first satellite designed to use SAR and four other instruments for remote sensing of Earth's oceans. For over three months, until its power system failed, Seasat observed sea-surface winds and temperatures, wave heights, internal waves, atmospheric water, sea ice features and ocean topography.