Tiros II Press Kit

8/8/2019 Tiros II Press Kit

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NEWS R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION1 5 2 0 H S T R E E T , N O R T H W E S T . W A S H I N G T O N 2 5 . D . C .T E L E P H O NE S : D U DL E Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 . E X E CU T IV E 3 - 3 2 6 0FOR RELEASE: HOLD FOR RELEASE UNTIL

LAUNCH

TIROS SATELLITE PAYLOADToda y 's laun ch f rom Cape Canavera l w i l l a t t e m p t t o p l a c e a

280-pound m et eo ro lo gi ca l s a t e l l i t e i n t o a c i r c u l a r o r b i t , 400mi l e s a bo ve t h e E a rt h . P ri ma ry s a t e l l i t e i ns t r u m e nt a t i o n c o n s i s t sof two t e l e v i s i o n c am er as t o p ho t og r ap h c l o ud cover a n d i n f r a r e ds e n s o m t o map r a d i a t i o n i n v a ri o u s s p e c t r a l b a nd s .v e h i c l e i s a D e l t a r o c k e t .

Launching

With t h e e x r he p t io n of t h e i n f r a r e d e qu ip me nt , t h i s s p a ce c ra f ti s . * ; r" t o T I R O S I launched April 1 , 1960. T i r o s i s a con-~ Y . ' , , c ~ Ifin of" T e l e v i s i o n and I n f r a r e d O b s er v at io n S a t e l l i t e

Shaped l i k e a round p i l l b o x , t h e s a t e l l i t e m ea su re s 42i n c h e s i n d iam ete r and 19 i n c h e s h i g h .covel;aed w i t h o v e r 9000 s o l a r c e l l s .pay load are f o u r t r a n s m i t t i n g a n t en n a s.a n t e n n a i s l o c a t e d o n t h e t o p .

I t s t o p an d s i d e s a r eE x t e n d i n g b e n e a t h t h e

A s i n g l e r e c e i v i n g

The D e l t a l a u n c h i n g v e h i c l e i s programmed t o p l ac e th es a t e l l i t e i n a c i r c u l a r o r b i t , a bo ut 400 m i l e s h i g h w i t h a n


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. .- 2 -

r b i t a l i n c l i n a t i o n t o the e q u a t o r o f 48 d e g r e e s . TravellingI a t n e a r l y 17,000mph, t he s a t e l l i t e w i l l c i r c l e t he E a r t h abou t

e J e r y 100 minu tes .Fo l lowing i s a d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e T i r o s Meteo ro log ica ls a t e l l i t e e xpe rim ent .POWER S U P P L Y . The 9260 s o l a r c e l l s s u pp ly e l e c t r i c a l energy

to 6 3 nickel-cadmium s t o r a g e b a t t e r i e s w hic h i n t u r n p r o vi d e powerto o p e r a t e t h e e xp er im en ts w i t h i n t h e s a t e l l i t e pa ck ag e. Powerc o n s e r v a t i o n i s e,xpected to average abou t 20 w at t s .

TRRNSMITTERS. T h e r e a r e f i v e t r a ns m i t t e r s t o r e l a y d a t a fromt h e s a t e l l i t e t o ground s t a t i o n s .

a ) Two 235.0 mc t r a n s m i t t e r s o p e ra t i n g w i t h a powerou tpu t o f 2 wat ts ; o n e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h each TV system and opera t edby ground command.

b ) One 3-watt 237.8 mc t r a ns m i t t e r for t h e i n f r a r e dexper iments ; operated by ground command.

c ) Two 3 0 - m w t r a c k i n g b ea c on s o p e r a t i n g c o n t i n u o u s l yo n f r e q u e n c i e s of 1 0 8 . 0 m c and 108 03 mc; b e a c o n f r e q u e n c i e s w i l lbe modulated by ground command t o r e l a y s a t e l l i t e e nv ir on me nt ald a t a s u ch a s te m p er a tu r e, p r e s s u r e , and b a t t e r y c h a r g e . For backupp u r p os e s , b o t h f r e q u e n c i e s c a r r y t h e same d a t a .

TELEVISION SYSTEM. The s a t e l l i t e ' s two TV cameras, i d e n t i c a le x c e p t f o r l e n s e qu ip men t, a re b o t h t h e size of a w a t e r g l a s s a n du s e a' 3 - i n c h V i di c on t u b e e s p e c i a l l y d es i gn e d f o r s a t e l l i t e use'.The cameras ,wh ich peer through the b a s e p l a t e of t h e T i r o s a rea l ig n ed p a r a l l e l to t h e s a t e l l i t e s s p i n a x i s . Each camera


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- 3 -c o n s l i s t s o f a Vic?icon and a f o c a l p l a n e s h u t t e r w h ic h p e rmi t s

. still p i c t u r e s to be s t o r ed on t h e tub e sc re en . An e l ec t r on beamc o n v e r ts t h i s s t o r e d ; Ji c tu r e i n t o a TV-type e l e c t r o n i c s i g n a lw h ic h ca n be t r a n s mi t t e d to gr ou nd r e c e i v e r s . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s oft h e camera sys tems a re :

Narrow Ang1 Wide AngleLens speedS h u t t e r s pe edLi l1, p e r f r a meFrames per secondV i d e o kandwidthCover'age f Cameras ve r t i ca l 75 m i l e s ( a p p r o x ) 750 m i l e sc o t h e E a rt h ) ( a p p r o 4TV Re so lu t l sn (Cameras ver t icz .1 0.15-0 m i l e 1.5-2.0 i l e s

.,'J t h e E a r t h )C onnec t ed t o each camera i s a ma g ne t i c t a p e r e c o r d e r an d t i m e r .

Out of" ground s t a t i o n range , each TIROS camera can record up t o32 p i c t u r e s on t h e s t o r a g e t a pe f o r l a t e r r e la y ; t h i s can be doneby programming th e t i m er .be corrmanded to by-pass t h e t ap e f o r d i r e c t t r a n s m i s s i o n to t h eground when wi th in the range of a s t a t i o n (1000 m i l e r a d i u s )p i a s t i c t ap e i s 400 f e e t lon g and moves 50 i n c h e s p e r s e c o n ddu ri ng re co rd in g and playb ack. The two TV systems o p e r a t e

Or, p i c t u r e d a ta f r o n the cameras can

The

i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f one ano the r .Photo d a t a a r e t r an sm i t t e d f rom one camera a t a t im e . Tape

readout f rom bo th cameras w i l l t a k e a b o u t 3 minutes . The s a t e l l i t ew i l l b e w i t h i n t r a n s m i s s i o n r a n g e of ground stations up to

. I. -. . I -. , . .- . I . ._I


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10 rninut,es. T h i s means T I R O S c an t r an s m i t d i r e c t l y o v e r 3 mi nu t e s3f j ~ i i o t o a t a collected by each ( ,anera w h i l e w i t h i n r an ge of t h e

. g r o u n d s t a t i o n .HORIZON SENSOR, An i n f r a r ed s en sc r , moun ted on t h e r i m of

t h e s pi nn in g s a t e l l i t e , s en se s when i t s f i e l d o f v i e w s c r o s s t h eE a r t h ' s h o r i z o n . T he se d a t a a r e c a r r i e d c o n t i n u o u s l y by t h e twot r ac k i ng beacons un l e s s commanded t o t r a nsm i t env i ronmen t a li n f o r m a t i o n . The h o r i z o n s e n s o r c a n b e used to d e t e r m i n e thes a t e l l i t e ' s a t t i t u d e i n sp a c e .

NORTH I NDI C AT OR . Around t h e s i d e s o f t h e payload a r e n i n es o l a r c e l l s . T he se c e l l s g e n e r a t e i mp ul se s w hi ch m ea su re t h ep o s l t i o n of t h e s a t e l l i t e w i th r e s pe c t t o t h e s u n . T h i s d a t a i st r a n s m i t t e d w i t h t h e TV t r a n s m i s s i o n t o t h e g r o u n d s t a t i o n s wherei t i s p r o c e s s e d by a computer to show whi ch d i r ec t i on i s n o r t h i ne s c h p i c t u r e .

M A G N E T I C O R I E N T A T I O N CONTROL. ,? s a t e l l i t e s pi nn in g i n s pa cecan deve l op a magne ti c d i p o l e wh ich i s e q u i v a l e n t t o a small b a rmagnet . T h i , s i s caused by c l o s e d c u r r e n t l o o p s i n c i r c u i t r y andby any magnet ic ma te r i a l s p r e se n t i n t h e s a t e l l i t e . The magneticd i p o l e , i n t e r a c t i n g w i t h t h e E a r t h ' s m ag ne tic f i e l d as t h es a t e l l i t e o r b i t s , p r o d u c e s t o r q u e - - a t u r n i n g f o r c e . T h i s slowlychanges t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e s a t e l l i t e ' s s p i n a x i s i n s p ac e , an ds o ch an ges t h e d i r e c t i o n i n which t h e TV cameras a r e p o i n t i n g ,T h is e f f e c t d is co ve re d i n t h e changes i n d i r e c t i o n of t h e s p i n a x i sof ' TZROS I ,

S c i e n t i s t s s a y t h e s t r e n g sn of t h e magne t ic d i p o l e , andt h e r e f o r e t h e s p i n - a x i s d i r e c t i o n ch an ge s, ca n be c o n t r o l l e d t o


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some extent by programming by ground command v a r ' i o u s s t e a d y. c u r r e n t s th ro u gh a c o i l of wi r e wound a round t h e o u t s i de o f t h e

s a t e l l i t e . An exper iment to t e s t t h i s t h e s i s has been incorpo-r a t ed i n t h i s T I R O S s a t e l l i t e , a n d a t t e m p t s w i l l b e made to o r i e n tt h e s p i n a x i s t o o b t a i n optimum per formance f r o m t h e TV a n d i n f r a r e dsys t ems .

An aluminum w i r e i s wound around th e s i d es of t h e s a t e l l i t e .j u s t above t h e ba se p l a t e . Cur r en t f r om t h e TIROS' power supp l yw i l l be f e d a t groun d command th ro ug h t h e c o i l . The cu r r en t canb e t u r n e d o n or off or var ied when t h e s a t e l l i t e i s u n d e r c o n t r o lof one of t h e grou nd s t a t i o n s .

INFRARED RADIATION EXPERIMENTS. There a r e two r a d i a t i o nexper iment s One co n s i s t s of f i v e i n f r a r e d d e t e c t o r s . T hese a r eo r i e n t e d a t 45 d e g r e e s t o t h e s p i n a x i s and s c a n t h ro u g h acombina t ion of t h e s a t e l l i t e ' s r o t a t i o n and i t s movement al on g t h eo r b i t . The s p e c t r a l b an ds and o b j e c t i v e s of t h e s e d e t e c t o r s a r e :

1 . E a r t h ' s a l bedo - - t h e p e r c e n t a g e of r e f l e c t i v i t y ofr a d i a n t e n e r g y or l i g h t : 0 2-5 mi crons .

2, I n f r a r e d r a d i a t i o n e m i t t e d 'cy E a r t h a nd a t m os p h er ecombined: 7 - 3 O / microns .

3. Emi t t ed r a d i a t i o n t h rough t h e a t m osphe r i c r'w indow'f (wheret h e a t m o s p h e r e i s q u i t e t r a n s p a r e n t ) : 8-12 mi crons . I n fo rma t i onh e r e s h o u l d i n c l u d e : (a) c lo ud d e t e c t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y a t n i g h t t i m eand ove r a r ea s where t h e TV cameras a r e n o t o p e r a t e d ; (b ) c loud

-

t o p t e m p e r a t u r e s a nd , a c c o r d i n g l y , a rough measure of c loud toph e i g h t ; ( c ) s u r f a c e t e m p e r a t u r e s over c l o u d - f r e e a r e a s .

. .


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- 6 -4, R a d i a t i o n from water vapo r band : 6 . 3 micr2c)rs f 5 $

T h i s w i l l m ea sur e t h e g e og ra ph ic d i s t r i t u t i o n of w a t t r l - i apo r a tt he tpopopause wh ich i s abou t '25 t o 30 t hou sa nd f e e t a l t i t u d e .

5. V i s u a l r a n g e : 0.5-0.7micron . T h i s v i s u a l c h a n n e l i si n t e n d e d to g i v e a map s i m l l a r t o t h e o t h e r ra d ia t io n maps whichcould be used to i -e la te the TV p i c t u r e s and r a d i a t i o n m aps .

The second I R e x p e r i me n t c o n s i s t s of tw o s e n s o r s , onew h i t e t h e o t h e r k la c hq w hi ch t o g e t h e r me a su re t h e h e a t b a l a nc e oft h e a r e a of t h e E a r t h viewed by t h e wide- angle TV camera. Thew h i t e b ody me as ur e s t h e h e a t r a d i a t i o n f ro m t h e e a r t h w h i l e t h eb l a c k kody m easure s b ot h v i s i b l e ( r e f l e c t e d s o l a r r a d i a t i o n )a nd he a t r a d i a t i o n ,

The purpose behind the IF! exper iments i s to f i n d o u t hownuch s o l a r e ne r gy i s absorbed and emi t ted by t h e E a r t h and i t satmosphere, w h i c h may l e ad t o a b e t t e r u n de r st a nd i ng o f thet ? e t e o r o l o g i c a l e f f e c t s of t h i s phenomenon.

GROUND STATIONS, The two pr imamj ground command and dataT ea d-out s t a t i o n s a r e l o c a t e d a t S an N i co l as I s l a n d , C a l i f o r n i a(p8i-t Gf t h e P a c i f i c Missi le Range), hnd a t Fort Mownouth,IVew Je&E:y.\ A backup s t a t io n- ?s lc,ca .ted at Pr in ce to n, New J e r s e y.

O P E R A T I O N , When t h e pa yl oa d i s s e p a r a t e d from t h e t h i r ds t a g e of t h e D e l t a l a u n ch v e h i c l e , i t will be s p i n n i n g a t b ou t126, pm. About 10 m in ut es a f t e r s e p a r a t i o n , a t i m e r w i l l r e l e a s ea de-spin mechanism t o slow t h e r e v o l u t i o n s t o a b o u t 1 2 rpm.The de-sp in mechanism consis t s of tvro we-ights a tt ac !h ed t o c a b l e swound 6round t h e s a t e i i i c c . As the ;reicht:; iiri:ri.nd they slow t h er a l e of s p in , and when co mp le te ly uniiound Lhey drop off


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- 7 -. q u t o m a t i c a l l y .

To remain s t a b l e i n o r b i t , TIEOS must m a i n t a in a s p i n r a t eof a t l e a s t 9 r p m ~p a i r s of c o n t r o l r o c k e t s w i l l b e f i r e d t o s,;eed up r o t a t i o n .L o c a te d ar o un d t h e b a s e p l a t e of TIROS, each p a i r , a c t i v a t e d byground cormand, can be used on ly once .

When s p i n slow s t o t h - i s mipimum, one of f i v e

S i n c e TIROS i s s p i n s t a b i l i - z e d , it w i l l no t be " look ing" a tt h e Eay th a t a l l t i me s .and San Nico las I s l a nd w i l l program the cameras to t a k e p h o t o g r a p h son ly a t t h o s e ti me s when t h e s a t e l l i t e i s [ i ewing the Ea r t h andwhen th e a r ea to be photographed i s i n s u n l i g h t .c a n be g i v e n as much as f i v e h o ur s i n a dv an ce .

Based on t racking informat ion , Ft . Monmouth

Program commandsP i c t u r e s t a k e n

wh;le TE?C)S i s o u t of r a n g e o f t h e g ro un d s t a t i o n s w i l l b e s t o r e don t a p e for l a t e r r e l a y . I n t h e r mo te mode, a n e l e c t r o n i c t i m e rstarts t h e camera , powero and Lransm it 'ce r fu nc t i on s . Each r ead-o u t wi pe s t h e t a p e c l e a n .r e c o r d i n g .

It im m edia tely r ewinds f o r its n e x t

When t h e s a t e l l i t e i s w i t h i n r ange of' a s t a t i o n , groundcormand c a n d i r e c t l y t u r n on the caneras and pho tographs t akenabove t h e s t a t i o n w i l l b e re layed immedia te ly be low,t h e ma g ne t ic t a p e .

by-pass ing

D at a f ro m t h e i n f r a r e d e x p e r i me n t s a r e re c o r d e d c o n t i n u o u s l yf o r one o r b i t on m a gn e ti c t a p e for playback on command from oneo f t h e g r o u n d s t a t i o n s .W ill %UtOmatiCalby S t a r t e r a s i n g its p r e v i o u s d a t a as i t b e g i n sr e c o r d i n g l a a d i at i o n d a t a d u r i n g t h e next o r b i t .always has %he last 108 m ln u te s o f r a d i a t i o n d a t a s t o r e d on i t f o rf o r p 1ayback whenever commanded,

If no t r e a d o f f a f t e r one o r b i t , t h e t a p e

However t h e t a p e

. - .. .I-. -


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- 8 -A% t h e grolxid s t a t i o n s , c loud cover pic tures w i l l b e displayed on

Kinescopes foT photographing. I n add i t i on, b o t h photo and inf raredd a t a w i l 1 b e recorded on magnetic tape:;.

The infrared t apes w i l l b e s e n t t o NASA's Goddard Space F l i g h tCenter f o r processing and a n a l y s i s . Negatives of c l oud p i c t u r e sw i l l b e s e n t t o t h e TJ , S , Naval Photographic In te rp re ta ti on Centerf a r photo deveeoping and processing.

There w i l l be meteorological teams a t b o t h primary groundstations, They w i l l analyze some of t h e most immediately u s e f u ld a t a and some p i c t u r e s w i l l b e t r ansmi t ted i n re21 time throughweathe33 communications network2 1'31 1-irnited experimental use

The ' I ' IROS s s t e 2 9 i t e I s expectfed Lo oper-ate J ' o ~ ? , ibout t h r e emonbhs, W en its usePL13ness e n d s g t h e t r a c k ing bC::ic.>ns can b ecomanded o f f 0

T h i s iJ. S o Zamching i s parz: r J f a long-range program de-develop a satellite capability fcLG y c v i d i n g world-widemeteoro2cgi :.ai Information, 'LPe ?dltimate gcal of the weatherman

is t o have world-wide meteom2cgica.l observat ions a t h i s f i n g e rt i p s fear. ar,alysis. Such a wea2F.h ~f data would lead t o a m o r eeomp1et.e understanding of our weather, and t h i s would as s i s t himI n p m p a r i n g h i s m a t h e r f o r e c a s t s

The three major aims behind development of meteorologica lsat;el1itaes are :


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-9-1. To produce global o b s e r v a t i o n s of t h e a t m o s p h e r e o v e r

* the entire g l o b e - - o c e an i c and d e s e r t a r e a s a s well as i n h a b i t e da r e a s .

2. T o p r o v i d e as complete@ cont inuou s ob se rv at io ns as i ss c i e n t i f i c a l l y r e q u ir e d and te c h n o l o g ic a l l y p o s s i b l e .

3 . To st ud y how t h e si n s e ne rg y i s c o m e r t e d i n t o a tmo s-p h e r i c motions bym easur ing t h e v a r i a t i o n s in t h e s o l a r e ne rg y a ndv a r i a t i o n s i n t h e E a r t h s u s e of t n i s e ne rg y.

TIROS I , l aunched A p r i l 1, 1960, dem ons t r a t ed the f e a s i b i l i t yo f m e te o ro lo g ic a l s a t e l l i t e s . It t r a n s m i t t e d 2 2, 95 2 c l o ud c o v e rp h o t o s d u r i n g i t s o p e r a t i n g l i f e t i m e of n e a r l y t h r e e m on th s. Itr e l a y e d m e t e o r o l o g i c a l i n f o m a t i o n from many sec t ions of t h e w o r l dwhere wea the r i n fo rm at ion had been sca n t y or u n t i l t h i s p o i n tn o n e x i s t e n t .

T h i s l a t e s TIROS satellite i s an exper im en t - - i n i t s e l f itcanno t be cons ide red a n op e r a t io na l wea the r syst em .. Its u s e f u ll i f e t i m e i s expecked t o be o n l y a b c u t t h r e e mo nt hs , However,the Weather Bureau, t h e A i r Force Air W eathe r Se rv ice and theNavy Wca.ther S er v ic e p la n t o use some of t h e c loud cov er da t a ona l i m i t e d , e x pe r im e nt a l o p e r a t i o n a l b a s i s .

N A S A and t h e U . S . Weather B u re au h a ve i n v i t e d weather a g e n c i e si n 21. f o r e i g n c o u n t r i es t op a r t i c i p a t e i n m e t e o r o l og i c a l r e s e a r c h i n co n n e ct i o n w i t h t h i sTIROS experiment. I t was s u g g e s t e d t h a t w e a t h e r a g e n c i e s a b r o a dm ig h t o b t a i n u s e f u l s y n op t i c results bY i n t e n s i f y i n g s t a n d a r dm e t e o r o l o g i c a l o b s e r v a t i o n s , o r by a r r an g i ng f o r s p e c i a lo b s e r v a t i o n s , c o o r d i n a t ed i n t im e w i t h p a s s e s o f t h e s a t e l l i t e .

. . ... . - ..-


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-10--h e i n v i t a t l o n i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t h e U . S .i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o o p e ra t io n i n s p ac e r e s e a rc h .

e f f o r t of encouraging

NAS A w i l l p r ov i d e o r b i t a l in f o r m at i o n to t h o s e c o u n t r i e si n t e r e s t e d i n p a r t i c i p a t i n g to assist c o o p e r a t i n g groups i nt i m i n g l o c a , l w e a t h e r o b s e r v a t i o n s . A f t e r p r o c e s si n g , TIROS cloudc o v e r p h o t o s w i l l be forwarded to p a r t i c i p a n t s for compar ison w i t ht h e i r s up p le me n ta ry o b s e r v a t i o n s . I f t h e i n f r a r ed r a d i a t i o ne x pe r im en t p r ov e s s u c c e s s f u l , t h i s d a t a w i l l a l s o be s e n t t o c o-o p e r a t i n g f o r e i g n w e a th er a g e n c i es . The c o o p e r a t i v e e f f o r t w i l lp r o b a b l y g e t u n d e r way a b o ut o ne month a f t e r s u c c e s s f u l l a u n c h .

'Weather agencies which have a1read.y ewnressedan i n t e r e s t b participating are !\ust r a l a ,

Federa ted Repurr;i i c , Prance , Ind ia '7 ;an, Mexico, Netherlands,

O th er i n t e r e s t e d c o u n t r i e s may also u l t i r n a t c i y o b t a i n t h es c i e n t i f i c d a t a , i n c l u d i n g c lo ud c o v er $ h ot os , t hr o ug h t h e wo rl dd a t a c e n t e r s .

O f f i c i a l s c on ce rn ed w i t h t h e TIROS exper im en t inc lude :.Dr. Morr is Tepper , Chief of M e te o r ol o gi c a l S a t e l l i t e P ro gr am s,

N A S A Headquar te m .Dr. Rudolf A , Stampf l , Pr oj ec t Manager , NASA's Goddard

S pa ce F l i g h t C e n t e r .W i l l i a m G , Str oud , Head of t h e Meteorology Branch a t Goddard.


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-11-Abraham Schnapf , P ro je c t Manager f o r R C A ' s R s t r u - E l e c t r o n i c s

D i v i s i o n .Dave Johnson, Projec t Manager f o r t he Wea t he r Bureau ' s

M e t eo r ol o gi c al S a t e l l i t e L ab o ra to ry .John Maskasky, U.S. Army Signal Research and Development

Labor a tory , NASA's Se ni or Re pr ese nt a t i ve a t the Fort Monmouthground s t a t '- 0 .

John Mas terson , P ac i f i c M is s i l e Range , Poi n t Mugu, C a l i f . ,NASA's S e n i o r R e p r e se n t a ti v e a t t h e S an Ni co la s g ro un d s t a t i o n .

- END -


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- 12 -TTROSPROJECT PARTICIPANTS

The o v e r a l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e p r o j e c t r e s t s w i t h t h e N a t i o n a lAeronau t ic s and Space Admin is t ra t ion . The o p e r a t i o n a l p h as e of t h ep r o j e c t i s und er th e d i r e c t i o n of NASA's Goddard Space F l ig h t C enter .Goddard w i l l pr ep ar e th e command programming which t h e ground s t a t i o n swill r e l a y CQ t h e s a t e l l i t e . These p la og rm s w i l l be based oni n f c m a t i o n from NASAls Computing Cent er and th e Meteo rol ogi ca lS a t e l l i t e L ab or at or y of" t h e U , S . Weatner Bareau. The r a d i a t i o ne x p e r i me nt s w ere d e s i g n e d a nd t h e d a t a s t o r a g e an d t e l e me t r y e q u i p -ment as so cl a t ed wi th them were c on s t r uc te d by Goddard where th e I Rd a t a w i l l , be ana lyzed . O p e r a t i o n a l t r a c k i n g w i l l b e p ro v i d e d b y t h e

n i t r a c k n et wo rk .With t h e e x ce p ti o n of t h e i n f r a r e d e xp e ri m en t s, t h e s a t e l l i t e

was d e s i g n e d a nd c o n s t ru c t e d b y t h e A s t ro -E l e c t ro n i c s D i v i s i o n ofRCA, Pr i n c e t o n , N , J o , u n d e r c o n t r a c t t o NASA. I n a d d i t i o n , RC Aw a s r e sp o n sl b 3 e f o r t h e s p e c i a l g round s t a t i m equipment , BarnesEn gl ne er ln g Company, Sta mf or d, Conn. un de r NASA c o n t r a ct , p ro vi de dt h e m i d i a t i on d e t e c t o r s , The U,S. Army Signal Corps monitored thepay load and ground s t a t i o n equ ipment co n t ra c t f o r NASA dur ing th edeve lopmenta l phases o f t h e TIROS experiment,

The U,S, Army Si g n a l Res ear ch and Development L ab or at or y,Fort Monmouth, N. J o y p e r a t e s one cf t h e TPROS g r o u n d s t a t i o n s ,The o t he r , ope ra ted by the U.S. Navy, i s on San Nico l as I s l a nd ,C a l i f o r n i a , a p a r t of t h e P a c i f i c Missi le Range. A backup, r a t i o n I s l o c a t e d a t R C A I s f a c i l i t y i n P r i nc et on , N, J.

" . .


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Douglas Aircraft Company i s prime contractor f o r t h e Delta. launch vehicle, I n add i t ion , i t i s r e spons ible fo r l aunch ing se r v ice s ,supported by t h e A i r Force Missi le Test Center which operates theAtlant ic Missi le Range, The Delta uses a Bell Telephone Laboratoriesguidance system, employing Rernington Rand Univac equipment.

The Meteorological Sa t e l l i t e Laboratory of the U , S . WeatherBureau, under NASA funding, i s r e spo n s ib l e f o r a n a l y s i s of cloudcover da ta . Coopera ting i n th e pr o je c t are t h e U . S . Navy Photo-graphic In te rp re ta t i on Center, the Geophysics Research Direct orateof th e A i r Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, the A i r ForceA i r Weather Service, and the Navy Weather Se rv ic e. The WeatherBureau and the m i l i t a r y weather services w i l l attem pt t o use someof the cloud cover data on a l imited, experimentalb a s t s

. . .. . .


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LAUNCH VEHICLEThe Delta vehic le used t o launch Tiros 11, has t he se

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s:Height - 92 f e e tMax. d i a e t e r - 8 f e e tLifS-off weight - a l i t t l e l e s s than 112,000 pounds

F i r s t st ag e (modified USAF Thor) :Fuel - l i q u i d (LOX and kerosene)Weight - about 100,000 pounds fueledThrus t - about l50,OOO poundsBurning t i m e - 160 secoP.dsGuidance - r a d i o guidance system (mounted on second s t age )

a n d r o l l ar-d p i t c h p r o g r a m e r sSecond s tage (Aero er; General)

Fuel - l i q u i dWeight - more than 4,090 poundsThrust - about 7,500 poundsEturning time - 109 seionCsGuidance - ra di o guidance system (Douglas Ai rc ra ft f l i g h t

c o n t r o l l e r p l u s B e l l Telephone Laboratory)Th i r d stage (Allegany Ballissics Laboratory X248):

Fuel - s o l i dWeight - m ~ r e han 500 poundsThrust - about 3,000 poucdsBurning time - 40 seconds ( a f t e r 7 minute coast)Guidance - sp in - s t ab i l i z ed

(more). . ... . .. . I -. . , . .. .I


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Orbit planned:Circular, about 400 miles high and 48 degrees to t h e qua I OF.Launching angle - 46.5 degreesOrbital period - 100 minutes

Firing sequence:The first stage falls away on burnout. The second s b a g e

ignites immediately.and payload is jettisoned after 20 seconds of' second stage burning.The third stage doesn't ignite until 7 minutes of coasting a f t , e rsecond stage burnout. Then the third stsgr ; is spin-stabilizedand the second stage falls zway. Tk?z kh?i rd st-sge reaches anorbital velocity of almost 17,000miles per k o ~ l r .

The nose f a i r i n g which covers


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N E W S R E L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION1 5 2 0 H S T R E E T , N O R T H W E S T ' W A S H IN G T O N 2 5 , D . C .T E L E PH O N E S : D U DL E Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 . E X E C U TI V E 3 - 3 2 6 0FOR RELEASE: November 23, 1960RELEASE NO. 60-299

CAPE CANAVERAL , FLA. -- The United S t a t e s today launched a280-pound meteorological s a t e l l i t e equipped w i t h t w o t e l e v i s i o ncameras t o photograph th e E a r t h ' s cloud cover and w i t h i n f r a r e dequipment t o make h e a t measurements of t h e E ar t h ' s s u r f ace ,atmosphere, and cloud tops.

The three-stage Delta rocket carrying the experiment waslaunched here a t 6:13 a . m . , EST.

- - - - - - - - - -CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -- The second and th i rd s t ages of t h e

Delta rocket vehic le used t o launch a m e t e o r o l o g i c a l s a t e l l i t ehave been f i r e d . Further informat ion on t h i s experiment w i l lbe r e le as e d by NASA's O ff ice of Public Information, Washington, D, C .

WASHINGTON, D. C . -- NASA Administrator T . Keith Glennan todaynamed the suc ces sfu l ly launched meteorological s a t e l l i t e TIROS 11.The i n i t i a l ca l cu l a t i o n s show a perigee of 415 s t a t u t e miles andan apogee of 435 miles. The period i s 98 minutes.

. ..

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