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TIROS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10

TIROS 1 [NASA]

NASA's TIROS (Television & Infra-Red Observation Satellite) program was the first experimental weathersatellite program.

The TIROS Program (Television Infrared Observation Satellite) 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.

The TIROS Program's first priority was the development of a meteorological satellite information system. Weather forecasting was deemed the most promising application of space-based observations.

TIROS proved extremely successful, providing the first accurate weather forecasts based on data gathered from space. TIROS began continuous coverage of the Earth's weather in 1962, and was used by meteorologists worldwide. The program's success with many instrument types and orbital configurations lead to the development of more sophisticated meteorological observation satellites.

TIROS 9 introduced the new "cartwheel" configuration and was a prototype for the TIROS Operational Series (TOS) satellites series.

Nation: USA
Type / Application: Meteorology
Operator: NASA, ESSA
Contractors: RCA
Equipment: ?
Configuration:
Propulsion: ?
Power: Solar cells, batteries
Lifetime:
Mass: 123 kg (#1); 127 kg (#2)
Orbit: SSO
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
TIROS 1 (A 1) 1960 β 2 01.04.1960 CC LC-17A Thor-DM18 Able-2 (mod)
TIROS 2 (A 2) 1960 π 1 23.11.1960 CC LC-17A Delta
TIROS 3 (A 3) 1961 ρ 1 12.07.1961 CC LC-17A Delta
TIROS 4 (A 9) 1962 β 1 08.02.1962 CC LC-17A Delta
TIROS 5 (A 50) 1962 αα 1 19.06.1962 CC LC-17A Delta
TIROS 6 (A 51) 1962 αψ 1 18.09.1962 CC LC-17A Delta
TIROS 7 (A 52) 1963-024A 19.06.1963 CC LC-17B Delta-B
TIROS 8 (A 53) 1963-054A 21.12.1963 CC LC-17B Delta-B
TIROS 10 (A 55, OT 1) 1965-051A 02.07.1965 CC LC-17B Delta-C

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