ATS-1 (Applications Technology Satellite 1), also designated ATS-B or Advanced Tech. Sat. 1, was an experimental

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

satellite, launched in 1966, and part of the Applications Technology Satellites Program. Though intended as a

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...

rather than as a

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites are mainly of two types: polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asyn ...

, it carried the Spin Scan Cloud Camera developed by Verner E. Suomi and Robert Parent at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. After entering an

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

at above

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, initially in orbit over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, it transmitted

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

images from the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

, as well as other data, to ground stations, including well as

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

feeds for

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

. It took one of the first pictures of the Earth's full-disk (the first from a geostationary orbit), on December 11, 1966.

"For the first time," historians would note later, "rapid-imaging of nearly an entire hemisphere was possible. We could watch, fascinated, as storm systems developed and moved and were captured in a time series of images. Today such images are an indispensable part of weather analysis and forecasting."

It was the first satellite to use

frequency-division multiple access Frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) is a channel access method used in some multiple-access protocols. FDMA allows multiple users to send data through a single communication channel, such as a coaxial cable or microwave beam, by dividing ...

which accepted multiple independent signals and downlinked them in a single carrier. The ATS-1 satellite was used during the 1967 international television broadcast '' Our World'', providing a link between the United States and Australia during the program. The ATS-1 would remain operational for more than 18 years, until April 1985.

Features

This satellite was cylindrical, with a diameter of and a height of ; an additional in height was the engine cover. The surface was covered with

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s, and the whole satellite was stabilized by rotation. It measured in diameter, high and weighed .

Instruments

A total of fifteen experiments were conducted during the mission:Experiment Search Results

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

NSSDC Master Catalog. Retrieved 2016-22-05. * Suprathermal

Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

Detector * Biaxial Fluxgate

Magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

* Omnidirectional

Spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure Spectrum, spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomeno ...

* Electron Spectrometer * Particle Telescope * Solar Cell

Radiation Damage Radiation damage is the effect of ionizing radiation on physical objects including non-living structural materials. It can be either detrimental or beneficial for materials. Radiobiology is the study of the action of ionizing radiation on living ...

* Thermal Coating Degradation * Rate Range Beacon * Spin Scan Cloud Camera * Microwave communication

transponder In telecommunications, a transponder is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. The term is a blend of ''transmitter'' and ''responder''. In air navigation or radio frequency identification, a flight trans ...

* Communication VHF transponder *

Nutation Nutation () is a rocking, swaying, or nodding motion in the axis of rotation of a largely axially symmetric object, such as a gyroscope, planet, or bullet in flight, or as an intended behaviour of a mechanism. In an appropriate reference fra ...

sensor * Resist-Jet Thruster *

Faraday Rotation The Faraday effect or Faraday rotation, sometimes referred to as the magneto-optic Faraday effect (MOFE), is a physical magneto-optical phenomenon. The Faraday effect causes a polarization rotation which is proportional to the projection of the ...

* Meteorological Data Relay System

Gallery

File:ATS-B scheme-02.png, ATS-1 exterior scheme File:ATS-B scheme-01.png, ATS-1 interior scheme File:Concept artwork of the ATS-1 satellite (G-66-3651).jpg, Concept artwork of the ATS-1 satellite File:ATS-1 (Earth full disk), 1966.jpg, First full disk image of Earth from

geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

(December 11, 1966) File:ATS-1 Moon.webp, ATS-1 captured the first image of Earth and the moon together (December 11, 1966) File:Monica1971sep20008z.gif, Section of an ATS-1 satellite image showing Hurricane Monica,(September 2, 1971)

References

{{Orbital launches in 1966 Spacecraft launched in 1966 Weather satellites of the United States Communications satellites of the United States Applications Technology Satellites