Tiros 1 Press Kit

8/8/2019 Tiros 1 Press Kit

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tiros-1-press-kit 1/12

. -

NEWS L E A S ENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

1 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 PH O N E S : D U D LE Y 2 - 6 3 2 5 . E X EC U TI V E 3 - 3 2 6 0

FOR RELEASE: HOLD FOR RELEASE

UNTIL LAUNCHEDApr i l 1960

NASA RELEASE NO , 60-152

TIROS SATELLITE

PAYLOAD

Today's launch from t h e A t l a n t i c Missile Range w i l l at tempt

t o p la c e a 270-pound meteorological s a t e l l i t e i n t o a c i r c u l a r

orb i t , approximate ly 400 m i l e s above t h e E a r t h . Primary s a t e l l i t e

i n s t rum en ta t i on cons i s t s o f two TV cameras t o t ake s t i l l photo-

graphs of the E a r t h ' s cloud cover. Launching ve hi cl e w i l l be

a Thor-Able rocket.

The s a t e l l i t e l ooks l i ke a g i a n t p i l l b o x , 42 inches i n

diameter and 19 inches high. I t s appearance i s somewhat unusual

s i n c e i t s top and s ides are almost completely covered by banks

of s o l a r c e l l s -- over 9000 i n a l l , Extending beneath the payload

are fou r t r an sm i t t i n g an tennas . A s ing l e r ece iv ing an t enna i s

loca ted on the top ,

O r b i t a l i n c l i n a t i o n w i l l be about 50 degrees to t h e equator .

Travel ing about 18,000 mph, the s a t e l l i t e w i l l c i r c l e t h e E a r t h

on an average o f once eve ry hour and one -ha lf. The b e l t covered

by t h e o r b it i n g TIROS w i l l extend from 50° M. L a t i t u d e t o SO0

S. Lat i tud e. I n th e Western Hemisphere t h i s covers an area

between Montreal, Canada, and Sa nta Cruz, Arg enti na. During

i t s approximately 1300 or b i t s dur ing the nex t th re e month, TIROS

w i l l sweep over ev ery poin t i n t h i s b e l t .

- .. . . . . I__... - . . " - ..I..II... I . I _ . . .. . . . . . - ,. . . . . . . . ~ . . . .- . .- . . . . __I._



The payload i s named TIROS (T el ev isi on and Infra-Red Observa-

t i o n S a t e l l i t e ) .

ca lendar year; however, t h i s f i r s t i s not equipped w i t h t h e

i n f r a- r e d r a d i a t i o n s e n so r s which map r e l a t ive temperatures

of t h e E a r t h ' s su r face ,

There are two TIROS s a t e l l i t e s scheduled t h i s

This U. S o launching i s p a r t o f a long-range program des igne d

t o develop a s a t e l l i t e c a p a b i l i t y for providing world-wide

meteorological informat ion. The ul t imate goal of t h e weatherman

i s t o have world-wide meteo rologic al obser vat ion s a t h i s f i n g e r

t i p s f o r an al ys i s . Th is would g re a t l y ass i s t him i n p r ep ar in g

h i s weather fo recas t s , Such a wealth of data would l ea d t o a

more complete understanding of our weather and w i t h t h i s , perhaps

some th eo r ie s re la t i ng t o weather c o n t r o l ,

There are sp e ci f i c reasons fo r photographing cloud cover .

Such p ic tu res w i l l provide meteorologis ts w i t h c loud pa t t e rn s

i n d i c a t i n g b i r t h o r ex i s t ence o f hu r r i canes , cyc lones and o th e r

weather a c t i v i t y . It i s hoped that these photos w i l l provide

m eteo ro log i s t s with more de ta i l ed in format ion on in d iv idu al

cloud types o v e r s p e c i f i c arease Analysis of t h i s data w i l l

ass i s t meteorologis ts toward a b e t t e r unders tanding o f t h e

causes of our weather.

The TIROS s a t e l l i t e i s an experiment -- i n i t s e l f i t cannot

be cons idered an ope ra t ion al weather system. I t s u s e f u l l i f e t i m e

i s expected t o be o nly about t h r e e months.

meteorological s a t e l l i t e r e l a y i n g weather data t o E a r t h proves

feas ib le , such a system cons f s t i ng of s e v e r a l s a t e l l i t e s providing

coverage over t h e e n t i r e gdbbe may one day be used on a cont inuing

24-hour basis

However9 i f a



This TIROS satellite, in addition to i t s TV cameras and

associated equipment, contains beacon transmitters, attitude

sensors, and telemetry circuits. Power is supplied by nickel-

cadmium batteries charged by solar cells, Power output is

expected t o average about 19 watts.

There are two primary ground stations which can both command

the satellite and receive photo data. These are located at F t ,

Monmouth, N. J., and Kaena Point, Hawaii.

The two TIROS TV cameras differ in coverage and resolution.

The side-angle camera, at 400 miles altitude, is designed to

cover an area of cloud cover roughly 800 miles on a side, The

narrow-angle camera will photograph a smaller area located within

the wide-angle camerats view,,

Identical except f o r lens equipment, the cameras are both

the size o f a water glass and use a $-inch Vidicon tube especially

designed for satellite use. Each camera consists of t w o parts:

a Vidicon and a focal plane shutter which permits still pictures

to be stored on the tube screen, An electron beam converts this

stored picture into a TV-type electronic signal which can be

transmitted to ground receivers.

These are some of the characteristics of the cameras--lens speed:

wide angle - f/l.5, narrow angle - f/1.8; shutter speed: 1.5 millisec;

lines per frame: 500; frames per second 1/2; video bandwidth: 62,5 kc.

Connected t o each camera is a magnetic tape recorder.. Out

of ground station rangep TIROS can record up to 32 photographs on

t h e storage tape for later relay, Or, picture data f r o m the

cameras can by-pass the tape and be transmitted directly to the

. . .. . - . . . . ... . . . . . - . . . . _ - -



- 4 -

ground when within range of a station. The Mylar-base tape is

400 feet long and moves 50 inches per second during recording

and playback. The two TV systems and their associated equipment

operate independently of one another.

Photo data are transmitted from one camera at a time. Tape

readout from each camera will take 34 minutes -- about 7 minutes

for both. The satellite will be within transmission range of

ground stations up to 12 minutes. This means that the satellite

can transmit directly up to 4 minutes of photo data collected

while: within range of the acquisition station. Connected to each

photo system is a 2-watt FM transmitter operating at a nominal

frequency of 235.00 mc which will relay picture information on

command to ground stations,

At the ground stations, pictures will be displayed on

Kinescopes f o r immediate viewing and photographing. Photo data

will also be sent to the U. S. Naval Photographic Interpretation

Center for developing and processsing.

How will meteQrologlsts identify photographs transmitted

from the satellite? Based on tracking reports, the satellite's

orbit will be accurately computed. Scientists connected with the

project will be able to determine exactly where TIROS was or

compute where it will be at any given time. Not only will the

meteorologist know the geographical source of the photo, but

he will know the d i r e c t i o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n o f t h e p i c t u r e ,

the payload are nine solar cells. They measure the

position of the satellite with respect to the sun. This

Around

-. . . . . . ..



informat ion i s t r ansm i t t ed to t h e ground stations w i t h t h e TV

t ransmission where i t i s processed by a computer t o show which

d i r e c t i o n i s n o r t h i n each p i c t u r e ,

Two beacon tr a ns m it te rs , o pe ra tin g on 108.00 mc and 108.03 mc,

both w i t h a power output of 30 mw, wilY be used for t s aek ing

purposeso They can be mo~l:~lated o provide in fo rna t ion on

s a t e l l i t e a t t i t u d e , e nv ir on me nt al e o n df t fs n s, and s a t e l l i t e

equipment operation. For back-up purposes, both frequen cies c ar ry

t h e same da ta , Each o f t h e p h o t o da ta a c q u i s i t i o n s t a t i o n s a rc

equipped w i t h t r ack ing an tennas ,

When t h e payload i s separa ted from t h e t h i r d s tag e of the

Thor-Able rocket, i t w i l l be spinning a t about 136 rpm. P i c t u r e s

taken from a veh ic l e w i t h t h i s ~ a % ef s p i n would be b l u r r e d ,

About PO minutes a f t e r payload sepa ra t i on a de-spin mechanism will

slow t h e revo lu t%ons to w%thian emera operating l i m i t s -- 12 rpm.

The de-spin mechanism eonsists o f two weights a t t ached to cab l es

wound around th e s a t e l l i t e , A s t h e weights unwind t h e y slow

t h e rate of sp in , They drop off au tom at i ca l l y ,

T h e s a t e l l i t e i s expected t o remain s t a b l e i n i t s o r b i t

as long as i t maintains a minimum spfn r a t e of 9 rpme When

s p i n slows t o t h e minimum, control . r o c k e t s w i l l speed the s a t e l l i t e ' s

r o t a t i o n back t o 1 2 rpm, These a re t h r e e palla o f these

j e t s l oca t ed a round %he baseplate o f t h e TZROS, Each s e t can be

used once .

every 20 days,

% t s es t imated that spin-up will be necessary only

These Jets are a c t i v a t e d by command f r o m the ground.

An i n fr a - re d d e t e c t o r w i t h i n t h e payload senses t h e c ros s ing

of the E a r t h ' s hor izon , T h i s i s t r ansm i t t ed t o ground s ta t ions

~ ..... . ........I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._..- . . . . . - . . . _ _



- 6 -

f o r process ing t o d et er mi ne t h e a t t i t u d e i n sp ac e of t h e

s a t e l l i t e ' s s p i n axis; i t also can be used as a b a s i s for

computing spin r a t e ,

Since TIROS i s s p i n s t a b i l i z e d , it w i l l not be "looking"

a t t h e E a r t h a t a l l t imes, Based on t rack ing in format ion ,

F t , Monmouth and Kaena Point w i l l program t h e cameras t o take

photographs only a t those times when the s a t e l l i t e i s viewing

t h e Earth and when the area t o be photographed i s i n s u n l i g h t .

This i s done by set t ing a timer. Program commands can be given

as much as f i v e hours i n advance , P ic tu re s t aken while TIROS

i s ou t of range of t h e ground s ta t ions w i l l be s to re d on tap e

f o r l a t e r re lay. I n t h e remote mode, t h e t imer s t a r t s t h e

camera, power, and tr a n s m it te r fun ctio ns. Each read-out wipes

t h e tape clean. It immediately rewinds for i t s next record ing .

When t h e s a t e l l i t e i s with in range of a s t a t i on , g round

command can directly turn on t h e cameras and photographs taken

above th e s t a t i o n w i l l be relayed immediately below, by-passin g

the magnetic t ape ,

F t . Monmouth w i l l be t h e f i r s t t o program the TV cameras,

This w i l l be done when T I R O S sweeps over t h e E a s t Coast o f t h e

U. S, for th e f i r s t t i m e , about a n hour and one-half a f t e r launch.

The N e w Jersey s t a t i o n w i l l a l so read-ou t th e first data a f t e r

TIROS completes i t s second or b i t , about th re e hours a f t e r launch.

The TIROS s a t e l l i t e i s expect ed t o ope ra t e f o r about three

months. If i t s use fu lnes s ends before t h i s t i m e , t h e t r a c k i n g

beacons can be commanded off.

. . .. . .,. ." . . . . . . . . - . . _.-. .. .



- 7 -Officials concerned with the development of the TIROS

include

Dr. Abe Silverstein, Director of Space Flight Programs,

and Dr. Morris Tepper, Chief of Meteorological Satellite Programs,

both from NASA headquarters; and William G. Stroud, Head of the

Meteorology Branch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and

TIROS Project Manager.

Herb Butler, project manager f o r the U. S. Army Signal

Research and Development Laboratory.

Vernon Landon and Edwin Goldberg, project managers for

the Astro-Electronic Products Division of RCA.

. . - . . .. . - _. . . - . . .. . ., .. , .. . . ... . ... ., . . . . .. ... __



ROLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAuNcm

No. 2Apr i l 1960

TIROS

LAUNCETIHG VEHICLE

Cons is t ing of three &ages, the Thor-Able rocket s tands over

90 f e e t t a l l and weighs more than lO5 ,OOO pounds a t l i f t - o f f .

T h i s i s the t h i r d time the veh ic l e has been used as a s a t e l l i t e

booster : The f i r s t f o r Exp lore r VI on August 7, 1959, and the

second o n an unsuccessful a t tempt t o o r b i t T r a n si t I on September 17,

1959. A Thor-Able sent Pioneer 170,700 miles i n to space on

October 11, 1958 and most r e c e n t l y on March 11, 1960, i t boosted

Pioneer V i n t o

Here i s a

F i r s t Stage:

a solar orbit.

breakdown of th e stages and t h e i r func t i ons :

Improved Thor, in termediate range b a l l i s t i c missi le , minus

guidance and modif ied t o re ce ive aU di t iona1 s ta ge s .

Weight -- Over 100,000 lbs.

Thrust -- Approximately 150,000 l b s .

The l iquid-fueled Thor propels t h e fehiAle for abput 160

seconds a f t e r launch, During t h i s t ine, t h e rocke t i s c o n t r o l l e d

by roll and p i tc h prog ram ers . During th e l a t t e r p a r t of f i r s t -

s tage b o o s t , a p l a s t i c nose fairing covering t h e t h i r d stage and

s a t e l l i t e i s j e t t i s o n e d and f a l l s away. Upon separation, t h e

T h o r re-enters the atmosphere and disintegrates.

Second Stage :

Powered by a l iqui d-f uele d engine, the second s tage was

adapted and modified from e a r l i e r Varguard and Thor-Able rocket

- .-.-...I " . .. , . . . . . ... . . .- I . . . . . .- . . ..



- 2 -

veh ic l e s . A t the t o p are s i x small rocke t s t o spin-up t h e t h i r d

stage. The second s ta ge f i r e s immedia te ly a f t e r f i r s t s t a g e

s e p a r a t i o n

Weight -- Over 4,000 l b s .


The second s tage conta ins a h igh ly accu ra t e r a d i o guidance

system developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western

E l e c t r i c Company. It i s t h e same g uid anc e used i n t h e T i t a n ICBM.

T h i s s tage prope l s t h e veh ic l e f o r abou t 100 seconds. A t burnout,

t h e s p i n r o c ke t s i g n i t e c au si ng t h e t h f r d s tage and t h e payload t o

r o t a t e a t th e r a t e of 136 revolut ions per minute.

s t a b i l i z e s th e t r a j e c t o r y o f t h e third s ta g e and payload . About

a second and a ha l f a f t e r t h e s p i n r o c k e ts f i r e , second-stage i s

separated by a r e t ro - rocke t . The second s tage then f a l l s and

burns up o n e n t e r i n g t h e E a r t h ' s atmosphere.

T h i r d Stage

The s p i n

A so l i d -p rope l l an t rocke t , t h e t h i r d s t a g e was adapted f r o mthe Vanguard and Able I rocke t veh i c l e s . It propels the payload

t o o r b i t a l v e l o c i t y , a bo ut 18,000 mph.

Weight -- Over 500 lbs,


The t h i r d s tage coas t s f o r about L!OO seconds before

i g n i t i o n . It goes i n t o o r b i t still a t t ached t o t h e pay1oa.d.

Separat ion occurs about 25 m inu tes a f t e r t h i r d - s t a g e burnout

when a s e t o f s p r i n g s f o r c e s t h e t h i r d s t age and payload apar t .

Burned out, th e empty t h i r d - s t a g e casing weighs about 50 pounds.



. .

- 3 -

For the first time in any NASA satellite launch, the third

stage carries a tracking beacon. It was designed by M,I.T.rs

Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Mass., and built by Texas

Instruments, Inc., Houston, Texas. Designed to be used with

ground equipment at Lincoln Laboratory's Millstone Hill tracking

facility in Westford, Mass,, the beacon will assist in providing

accurate trajectory information during launch.

receives a pulse from ground radar, it transmits a pulse back

showing the location of' the third stage.

greater tracking range than "skin" tracking where radar signals

are "echoed" back from the object in space.

When the beacon

This system provides

. . . . . . . ..-.-_-I. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . . . I _........... .-.



. . .

HOLD FOR RELEASEUNTIL LAUNCHED

No. 3Ap r i l 1960

TIROS

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

To prepare t h e TIROS veh ic l e , p l ace i t i n o r b i t , t r a c k i t , and

acqui re , p rocess and analyze data r e q u i r e s t h e cooperat ion and

a s s i s t a n c e o f many Government agen cies and i n d u s t r i a l or gan iza tio ns.

The o v e r a l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h e p r o j e c t res t s w i t h t h e

National Aeronautics and Space Administrat ion. The opera t i ona l

phase of t h e p r o j e c t i s under t h e d i r e c t i o n of N A S A s s Goddard Space

F l i g h t Center . Goddasrd w i l l prepare the command programming which

t h e ground s ta t ions w i l l re lay t o t he s a t e l l i t e . These programs

will be based on i nf orm ati on from NASA's Computing Ce nt er and t he

M e te or ol og ic al S a t e l l i t e S e c ti on of t h e U . S . Weather Bureau.

Opera t ional t rack ing w i l l be provided by t h e Minitrack network.

The T I R O S p r o j e c t w a s or ig ina l ly sponsored by t h e Advanced

Research Projects.Agency of t h e Departmerit of Defense, I n A p r i l 1959,

the p r d j e c t was transferred t o NASA.

The s a t e l l i t e and s pe ci al ground s t a t i o n equipment w a s designed

and const ructed by R C A ' s Ast ro-Elec t ron ic Products Divis ion,

Pr ince ton , N.J . , under the t echnica l superv i s ion of the U.S. Army

S i g n a l Research and Development Laboratory, P t . Monmouth, N.J.

The A i r Force B a l l i s t i c Missile Divis ion (ARDC), w i t h i t s

co nt ra ct or s, Space Technology La bor ato rie s, Inc. , and Douglas

A i r c r a f t Corp,, was resp onsib le f o r booste r development and f o r

matlng booster and payload. I n add i t i on they prov ide l aunch services

supported by the Air Force Missile Test Center which oper ate s

t h e At lan t i c Missile Range.



-2-

There a r e two primary data r e c e iv ing s t a t ion s : one is opera ted

by the S igna l Corps a t F t , Monmouth; t h e o t h e r a t Kaena Point, H a w i i ,

by Lockheed Missile and Space Division and i t s c onsu l t a n t , P h i l c o

Corporat ion under contrac t t o AFBMD, a n d under the technica l

superv is ion of th e Si gn al Corps. Two back-up s t a t i o n s which cannot

command th e s a t e l l i t e but which can receive data are l oc a te d a t

Cape Clanaveral and Princeton, N.J,

Meteoro logis t s in . t h e M e t eo ro lo gi ca l S a t e l l i t e S e c t i o n of t h e

Weather Bureau w Z l l be r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e a n a l y s i s an d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n

of cloud cover data.

weather data a n a l y s i s w i l l be t h e A i r Force Cambridge Research Center,

Al l i ed Research Associa tes , A i r Weather Service, Navy Research

Weather Faci l i ty , and the A r m y Signa l Corps, The U , S , Naval

Photographic In t e r pr e t a t io n Cente r w i l l develop and process

photographs before they are d i s t r i b u t e d f o r r e s e ar c h p ur po se s,

Ass i s t ing NASA and the Weather Bureau i n

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. _.__I....._.._...I

Documents

Tiros 1 Press Kit