TIROS-1 (or TIROS-A) was the first operational

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 ...

, the first of a series of ''

Television Infrared Observation Satellite Television InfraRed Observation Satellite (TIROS) is a series of early weather satellites launched by the United States, beginning with TIROS-1 in 1960. TIROS was the first satellite that was capable of remote sensing of the Earth, enabling sc ...

s'' (TIROS) placed in

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

Program

The TIROS Program was NASA's first experimental step to determine if satellites could be useful in the study of the Earth. At that time, the effectiveness of satellite observations was still unproven. Since satellites were a new technology, the TIROS Program also tested various design issues for spacecraft: instruments, data and operational parameters. The goal was to improve satellite applications for Earth-bound decisions, such as "should we evacuate the coast because of the

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

?". The TIROS-1 Program's first priority was the development of a

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

satellite information system.

Weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

was deemed the most promising application of space-based observations.

Spacecraft

TIROS 1 was an 18-sided right

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, across opposite corners and high. Spacecraft power was supplied by approximately 9000 - by silicon solar cells mounted on the cover assembly and by 21 nickel-cadmium batteries. A single

monopole antenna A monopole antenna is a class of radio antenna consisting of a straight rod-shaped conductor, often mounted perpendicularly over some type of conductive surface, called a ground plane. The current from the transmitter is applied, or for rece ...

for reception of ground commands extended out from the top of the cover assembly. A pair of crossed-dipole antennas (235 MHz) for transmission projected down and diagonally out from the baseplate. Mounted around the edge of the baseplate were five diametrically opposed pairs of small, solid-fuel thrusters that maintained the satellite spin rate between 8 and 12 rpm. The satellite was equipped with two -diameter vidicon TV cameras, one wide angle and one narrow angle, for taking earth

cloud cover Cloud cover (also known as cloudiness, cloudage, or cloud amount) refers to the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds on average when observed from a particular location. Okta is the usual unit for measurement of the cloud cover. The cloud c ...

pictures. The pictures were transmitted directly to a ground receiving station or were stored in a

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recorder on board for later playback, depending on whether the satellite was within or beyond the communication range of the station. The satellite was spin-stabilized.

Mission

Launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17A on 1 Apr 1960 at 11:40:09 UTC by a Thor Able II rocket. Over its -month lifespan, TIROS 1 returned 23,000 photos of the Earth, 19,000 of them usable for weather analysis. For the first time, it was possible to view large scale cloud patterns in their totality, and from this, identify storm regions. The satellite provided the first long-term observations of a developing storm from orbit, tracking the disintegration of a large

cyclonic In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

mass off the coast of

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over the course of four days. In addition, TIROS 1 returned data on smaller scale structures such as

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

es and

jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...

s, and findings returned from the satellite complemented and enhanced ground-based findings. TIROS 1 performed normally from launch until June 15, 1960, when an electrical power failure prevented further useful TV transmission. , TIROS 1 remains in orbit. File:TIROS 1 Launch1.jpg, Thor-Able launching TIROS 1 File:TIROS-1-Earth.png, TIROS I wide-angle image taken on April 1, 1960 (one of the first TV images of

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 ...

from space) File:TIROS I image Spac0102-repair.jpg, TIROS I image showing a cyclone in South Atlantic, taken on April 28, 1960 File:A square cloud close to the Oklahoma-Texas border (2268-80).jpg, TIROS I image showing an apparently square cloud and a cloud system which enlarged bringing hailstones and tornadoes to central Oklahoma (May 2, 1960) File:Surface weather map of Pacific frontal storm derived from TIROS I data (2268-84).jpg, Surface weather map of Pacific frontal storm derived from TIROS I data (May 19, 1960) File:Experience with TIROS showed that bright clouds with relatively well-defined edges and isolated from a main cloud mass, could be indicators of severe weather (2282-47).jpg, TIROS I image showing bright clouds with relatively well-defined edges and isolated from a main cloud mass. Shortly after this photograph, the southernmost cloud spawned a tornado (May 27, 1960). File:Archived tapes of telemetry data received from TIROS I (2268-132).jpg, Archived tapes of telemetry data received from TIROS I (June 1960)

Notes

References

External links

Track the current position of TIROS 1TIROS – NASA ScienceFinal Report on the TIROS I Meteorological Satellite SystemThe Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Exhibition List

- preserved by InfoAge Science History Center

* ttp://noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/40yearsa.html TIROS I is Launched - NOAASIS
TIROS-1 50th Anniversary & Resources on Satellite Meteorology

NASA's YouTube video of TIROS-1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiros-1 Spacecraft launched in 1960 Weather satellites of the United States Weather imaging satellites Satellites in low Earth orbit Television Infrared Observation Satellites