Nimbus B was a

meteorological 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 ...

launched as part of the

Nimbus program The Nimbus satellites were second-generation U.S. robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1978 used for meteorology, meteorological research and development. The spacecraft were designed to serve as stabilized, Earth-oriented platforms fo ...

. It was released on May 18, 1968 from the

Vandenberg Air Force Base Vandenberg may refer to: * Vandenberg (surname), including a list of people with the name * USNS ''General Hoyt S. Vandenberg'' (T-AGM-10), transport ship in the United States Navy, sank as an artificial reef in Key West, Florida * Vandenberg S ...

Lompoc, California Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

, by means of a

Thor-Agena Thor-Agena was a series of orbital launch vehicles. The launch vehicles used the Douglas Aircraft Company, Douglas-built Thor (rocket family), Thor first Multistage rocket, stage and the Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed-built RM-81 Agena, Agena ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

, together with the SECOR 10 satellite. Nimbus B never achieved orbit because a malfunction in the booster guidance system forced the destruction of the spacecraft and its payload during launch. The

Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), or radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the Decay heat, heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material i ...

SNAP-19 RTG was salvaged from the water, refurbished and later flown on

Nimbus 3 Nimbus 3 (also called Nimbus-B2) was a meteorological satellite. It was the third in a series of the Nimbus program. Launch Nimbus 3 was launched on April 14, 1969, by a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, CA. The spac ...

Gallery

File:Nimbus-B testing.jpg, Nimbus B undergoes testing in an echo-free chamber. File:The hunt was on for the Nimbus remains.jpg, The hunt was on for the Nimbus remains—divers, submarines and navy vessels all scoured the ocean in search of the craft. File:Remains of Nimbus B.jpg, A team of divers and search vessels scoured the Pacific Ocean in search of remains of Nimbus-B. File:Nimbus B RTG on the ocean floor.jpg, Intact SNAP-19 fuel capsule is shown among debris on

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

floor, resulting from the aborted launch of a Nimbus B.

Instruments

* High Data Rate Storage System (DHRSS) * High and Medium-Resolution Infrared

Radiometer A radiometer or roentgenometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux (power) of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, a radiometer is an infrared radiation detector or an ultraviolet detector. Microwave radiometers operate in the micro ...

s (HRIR/MRIR) * Image Dissector

Camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...

System (IDCS) * Infrared

Interferometer Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

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 ...

(IRIS) * Monitor of

Ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

Solar Energy (MUSE) *

(SNAP-19) * Real-time transmission System (RTTS) * Satellite

Infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

(SIRS)

References

External links

The Day the Nimbus Weather Satellite Exploded
by the Smithsonian Magazine 1968 in spaceflight Weather satellites of the United States Satellite launch failures {{satellite-stub

Gallery

Instruments

See also

References

External links