German TanDEM-X satellite returns first 3D images

Choppy Indian Ocean waters (yellow) contrast with the calm Baie de Diego (blue)

Germany's new radar satellite, TanDEM-X, has returned its first images.

The spacecraft was launched from Kazakhstan on Monday on a mission to make the most precise 3D map of the Earth's surface.

The pictures demonstrate the platform is in excellent health and ready to team up with the TerraSAR-X satellite launched in 2007.

Together, the pair will trace the variation in height across the globe to a precision of better than two metres.

1.Moscow-Sheremetyevo airport 2.Fields and forests in Ukraine

The new images depict a landscape in Ukraine, the north of Madagascar, and Moscow.

The pictures illustrate neatly the particular specialism of using radar to sense the planet's surface.

German TanDEM-X satellite returns first 3D images

Locations of student's made mini satellites unknown in space.

The location of three out of four mini satellites developed by Japanese students and launched by a rocket carrying a planetary probe last week, are unknown, officials at Science ministry has said.

Aerospace Development Committee officials on Wednesday said only Soka University students are able to receive radio signals from their satellite 'Negai' which was delivered into space on Friday along with Venus probe Akatsuki and three other satellites developed by universities and technical college students.

Kagoshima University received radio signals shortly after the launch its KSAT satellite but was unable to confirm whether it came from same satellite. The university has had no contact with the satellite since then.

Locations of student's made mini satellites unknown in space.