Tiros-m Press Kit

8/8/2019 Tiros-m Press Kit

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NENA'IONAJ. ERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION TELS w- 2-4 355N -WASH NGtONp.C. 20546 VW03-6925-E~EE . 7 .2 ..OR RELEASE: TUESDAY P M. 9M>>=,~ eb ^* r^ @/*-January 1,1970.

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*.NATii~ti*L .PER6:UTi'CS,AND PA & ADMINISTATION -(202) 962-i55EWAS TES: (202) 963-69.5* fOR RELEASE: TUESDAY P.M."January 13, 1970

RELEASE NO -'70-2

NEW TIROSSERIES LAJNCH . .

A-new era in- global, eather ~predi~ction is: expe~ct~dto begn his Year with the- launching b~y the .Natiofial ./AeronAutics' and. S .aoedini.istrati-o. ote it i a

'new series of operationa meteoro-logical satellit-es.

Called TIROS-M or Iffiproved TIROS'Operati~onal..Satellite-i '(ITOS-l) in orbit, the s~atellite, is' ~cheduledto be~ aunched no. earlier thanm.Jan., 15 from the WesternTest Range, Lopoc,alif. .

The la~unch vehiicle will be the two-stage- Delta-'N'which wil 'use, for the first t-ime, si oi.2ulsrpon rockets for addi~tional thrust at ' l iftoff and at about146,000 feet.

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-2-The spacecraft will be placed in a: circular,' 909-

Mile altitude polar orbit, inclined 78.224 degrees (retro-

grade) to. the Equator and will circle the Earth'every 115 ',

minutes. It's orbit will be 5un-synchronous (Sun always:at the same angle behind the spacecraft) to provide maximum'powerforkeeping batteries charged and fo r illiumination,for photography.

-In.addition, Aus-tralis'OSCAR-7A, a.39-pqund.spacecraft

. desig'ned and construc-ted-by amateur radio. operators, has:een accepted.as a secondary payload.aboard the Delta secondtage. . .

This second-generation operational spacecraft will notonly more.,than double the daily weather coverage now possiblefrom t~ie current-seri'es of Environmental Survey Satellites

:(ESSA), but at less cost, more effectively and during a longer., lifet~ime.., .''*~~ . .~.~~ .

It is capable of taking infrared pictures .of the Earth'scloud cover at right. and will be able to transmit cloudtop andi'surface temperatures.

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None of' this- was,possihle wvithl peouoeationalweatber sa~tel lites.. However,. simidlar sensors have-be'enflown successf'ul)y on 114ASA's reisea~rdh and d v 1o ineietNimnbus weather: ;atellites.'

eldith~the nightti'me p1'oto -capability mneteorologlsts--will be provided yith .c)qud. ~ovex -photos ni'ght-and dy

evr.12 hours art er tban, jtoneadywh-atie'-.TV pictures only 'ap, is now thicase with'_ESSA' satellites&.~Automatic Picture T'rdnsmlssilon (AT) system Asati~6ns,relatively'nepensive ground receiviflg units, cn rceithe night and day pictures a well as the cloud and surfa~eetempierature d~ata. .

Other experiments include a solar -proton monitor i'orsolar flare warnings and-a radiometer to measure the Earth'sheat balance Cthe amount of.-heat reflected fr~om and absorbed'by te atMosphere),

Another new feature is the attitude contr~ol S'ystei.'Instead of spinning the whole spacecraft, as with Previous'ESSA satellites, the body of the spacecraft will be stabilizedin all.''three- axes (pitch,, yaw and r*oll) so that' it *will'always*face the E~arth. Employing a large, spinniffg wheel andappropriate 'elect~ronic circuitry, this-stabilization sy-Ste-mis called "Stabillite."

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.-4-Such a system-has distinct aadvantages over a spnriing

b3atelli~te., 'They.are:,--Sensors will be able to scan the Earth constantly,

providing'cloud cover photos and temperaturemeasurernents.--The spacecraft's antenna will point toward Earth

all.'the -tine providing better communications.--Several weather-measurinig sensors can be operated*

simultaneously. '

TIROS-M will weigh, more than twice as ruch as previousTROS Operatiohs System (TOS) satellites, 682 pourds' asopposed to.,300 pounds-, and will return more and''better data., .p, . * s- qu .than two of the present TOS or ESSA.satellites.'

, Instead of' aving the former TOS hatbox shape -withsolar cells around the extertor,,TIROS-M is rectangular

-SO .TRO-srcanua

or box-shaped with.-a deployable three-panel solar array.With the panels unfolded the spacecraft measures 14 feetacross. -

Re 'her than two TOS satellites carrying two cameraseach, two APT cameras in one and two Advanced Vidicon Cameras(AVCS) in the,.other,'the new.spacecraft will carry two 'ofeach with the AVCS-.cameras being much improved models. Inaddition, .TIROS-M will carry redundant two-channel infrared-radiometers for global daytime and nighttime cloud cover andsurface data which can be transmitted to the more than 500APT statio.ns in 50 countries along with the conventional day--time A-T pictures.

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The radiometer data will also be taped on the space-craft fo r later readout at ESSA's two main data acquisitionstations at Wallops lsland,.Va., and at. Fairbanks, Alasica.

The AVCS takes a series of photos which are alsorecorded on a ,spacecraft tape recorder''for later .readoutat the main data acquisition stations. They. are then'transrmitted to the'Environmental Science Services Administration "sNational Environmental 'Satellite Cefter, Suit'landtDd.' -thissysteim takes. photoi 6o f the-'entire Earth daily..

The -two daytime cameras, APT anrd AVCS, vith a picture .-resolution of two miles, will operate for about 48 minutesof each 'orbit. The radiometer, with a resolution of' about'two miles during the day and four miles at night, willoperate'for 71.minutes of each orbit.

With the improved technology housed in one spacecraft'rather than in two, and' he new stabilization system, theTIROS-M is expected to be longer lived as well, as substantiallymore.economical. Earlier TOS satellites were expected to'last about six months, but most of them have operated up toa number of years.'

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-6-The ITOS System is a joint effor, f the NASA and the

Commerce Department's Environme-. ti ScienceServices Admin-'is trat ion. -While TIROS-M, the first of th e riew. series wasfunded by NASA, with Thie' exception of th e meteorologicalsensors,. uture spacecraft in the ITOS series will be fyund.d,Pby the (n a. cce Depatftment. ' .

'i'h>e.cuirrent contract with the prime contractor,RCA Corp.', calls for six' TOS spacecraft, including TIROS-M.

All ; ,the ITOS spacecraft, w ill be launched and checked'.

. out in orbit by NASA "for. he Commerce.Dept.' With-theexception of TIROS-M, the ITOS spacecraft will be turned over

' o. ESSA shortly, after they have'been launched and checkedout in orbit by NASA.

Since rIROS-M is a prototype.of a.new series, NASA.*willlmaintain control 'of the satellite in-orbit for severalmonths to-assess its engineering performance. All of the,weather data from Itros spacecraft including TIROS-M, Will,be transmitted in real time to'ESSA.

This maiden flight of TIROS--M comes almost one decade'after the world!s first weather satellite, TIROS-1, blastedoff from.Cape Kennedy, Fla. (then,'Cape Canaveral),April 1,,1960. Meteorologists hailed it as one, of the most "revolu-tionary" events in the history'of weather forecasting.

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-7-. Since that fi rst- r~eo4ologiea1 brekthrough, a

total of 10 TIROS and (i i^,R, a.her, observers have beenlaunched. All, have met or e;xc^,eded trieir mission objectives.-.Tlhese satellit.es bave ;returned more t'han 1 1/4 xrpi l1ic nweather pictures.

Since th e first operation8al' wather Ceye iriSSA 1, waslaunched Feb. -3, 1966,;the'-woold- weather- as been joni-.tored daily by ESSA satelle .. -

' .TIROS and ESSA satelli I-es nave tracked nearly-allof the more than )400,tropic~al storms, hurricarnes and typhoonsrecorded since TIROS I was launched..i.n 1960.

The world meteorological community'has called the APTcamera the "tsing e most significant-coqntributLon to met6or-olcqy in the past tw~enty, yers."

A number of private.users in the UniteedStates andnumerous foreign countries have built thei' own reccivers'and facsimile machines at costs ran'ging from severa1 hundredto several thousand dollars.

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I May Qf' the world's la rge airports have APT picturesfor commercial pilots to study before a flight. Now, .iith

'A he TVIROS-M0 system, pilots will be able to see wceat~her condi-

tions during the night as well as daylight hours, from New

'York to London, or San Francisco to Tokyo. Sorietime' in'the,frWture it is expected that. pilots will be able to receiveAPT 6loud iover photons in flight'

In addition to contributing to meteorology, TIROS

and ESSA satellites have been extremely valuable in icenack reconnaissance. ESSA publishes sea-ice charts of theGreat Lakes and other important sea travdiJroutes a;s ah

aid to navigators.

The operational weather satellftJt program is a Jointeffort of NKASA and theEnvironmental Science Services Admin-*istration The Delta booster for ITOS missions is managedby Goddard while launch operations are conducted 'by NAgA-'s:Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Unmanned Launch Operations'.

ITOS spacecraft, as well as th e earlier 19 TIROS/ESSA*satellites,.were built for NASA by the RCA Corp,, Ast-t6Electronics Division, Princeton, N.J. Prime contractor 'fortie Delta booster is the McDonnell Douglas Corp., HuntingtonrBeach, Calif.

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The Australis OSCAR-A piggyback satellite wasbuilt by'a group of arnatour radio operat6rs at MelbournloUniversity in Australia, giving.rise to the "Australis"position of its name. Tho Radio Amateur Satellite Ccrp.'(ASSAT), a group of United States amateurs, is. preparing'the, satellite for lauhch, testing and qualifying It t.o omplywith NASA requirements. OSCAR is an acionym for Orbiting'Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio. X

: group of American radio operators based- on thePacific Coast has successfully launched and operated f6ur,amateur'radio satellites since 1961 in a program'known asPr")Jeot OSCAR. The previous four OSCAR-launches were in.conajunction-with Department of De'fensejspacecraft.

The satellite (OSCAR-5 in -orbit) will be placed intoa 910-mile orbit and will be inclined 102 degrees to the.Equator with a period of about 114 minutes.

Transmission frequencies are 29.45 megahertz in thetelemeter band and at )14.05 Mhz in the two-meter band.A transmitting life of approximately two months is expectedfrom the 20 pounds of batteries carried by the satellite.

END OF RELEASE; BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOLLOWS

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j.. *..... . ,TIROS'-M FACT SHEET

Spacecraft: Box-shapped, 14 *feet- ide with solarpanelsdeployed, weighing 682 pounds. * .Stabilization: Earth ,oriented and three-axisstabilized to within.1 degreeMission Objectives: .

Primary 'Observe day and night'cloud covr in .the visible and infrared spectrums for"live" transmission to users anywhere'. in the world.Ob1serve global caoudlcover.daily. inboth thevvivsibresfd-invnlStbe(infrared) spectrums as recprdOd inthe satellite for later playbacl andprocessing (AdvancedVidicon CameraSy~stem & Scanntng Radiometer) ,

Secondary ' Gather heat balance data (Flat Plate* .. . Radiomete, )'.and ideyntify proton-'fluxlevels at the spacecraft altitude '(Solar Proton Monitor)..

Launch Ihformation:'Vehicle' Delta N (Two Stage) with six s6lidsserapped onto 'the first stage Thor'Complex Western Test Range, Calit.., SLC-2 West

Azimuth' 259 degrees True.ate 'No earlier than January 15, 1970Window 3:31 AM PST - 3:51 AM PSTOrbit Circular, 909 statute. milesPeriod . 115 minutes , . ,'Inclination ' 78 degrees (retrobgrade)

Powei' Supply 10,000 negatlve-on-positive',solar.cells mounted an three identicalpanels 3 feet wide by 5 feet ,longproducing 250 watts of average . *power.

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Tracking:'Orbit Sixteen stations in NASA's world-wide Space Tracking and Data

Acquisition Network (STADAN)D.ata Acquisition -. Fairbanks, Alaska (Giihnore Creek)Facili t ies and Wallops Is'land, Virginia.-Automatic Picture More than 500.independent stationsTrahsmission.Ground In more than 50 countries'in every--tations continent.

Spacecraft Lifetime: On-e year*.Spacecraft Management: Office of Space Science and: . Applications, NASA Headquarter~s,,

and the Goddard Space Flight Center,'. . Greenbelt, Md'."

Lau .ch Vehicle:Management Godda'rd Space Flight CenteP'Operations . NASA/Kennedy Space CenterUnmanned Launch Operations

Prime Contractors..Spacecraft . .CA.Corporation, Astro Electronics

- 'Division'Launch Vehicle McDonnell/Douglas Corp.

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-12-THE SPACECRAFT

/

Major features of the spac~ecraft, ar~e.the equipment'module (main body), the dep~loyable three-panel solar array,and the momentum flywheel. The base of the mairn body is' ap-proximately 4O.inches x 40.'inches. and the overall height of'the body is'approximately. 48 ihches . Total tleight is ap-proximat-elv 682 pounds.

The solar array-consists of three panels, "each Indepentdent~ly hinged to the main body -of.the spacecraft'-with a totalarr'ay'area. of 48-square''feet. Eabch pacnel measures'36 .4 inches.x63.8 inches.In the launch configuration,. the ,panel-s are folded andheld agair.st the.sides of the. eqluipment.modu~le. Followingthe initial orientation maneuver,. squib,-abctuated pinh pullers'

ar~e fired, allowing spring~-~.aded actuattors't'o deploy, ach',.panel 'so that its surface, is, erpeidicular -to t1,e spacecriaftpitch akis..Dynamics'Control Subsystem

Four major dynamics control.devices are incorporated inthe spacecraft: a.quarter-orbit magnetic-attitude control.(QOMAC) coil, a magnetic bias control (MBC) ooil, a pitchcontrol lodp.(two devices operate by establishing magnetic'fields which interact with the magnetic field-of the Earthto produce a torque on the',pacec'raft. The torque, in turn,causes the spacecrafttO. preces's or change it.s orbital pathslightly to the west each day.' 'The QOMAC system is used to postition the spin ax-is(pitch axis) of the spacecraft so that it will be perpendicularto the plane of the orbit. The MBC coil is use& to.reduce theresidual magnetic dipoie moment of the spacecraft and retainthe necessary dipole'moment to precess the spacecraft approx-imately one degree per day. for"'the required Sun-synchronism.

The pitch control loop consists of a momentnm flywheel,a flywheel drive motor,. a.scanning mirror, pitch and roll.sensors, two momdentum coils,, and associated electronics'. ATheflywheel, operating in the mission mode at a nominal sppedof 150 rpm,.provides gyroscopic stiffness to 'the spacecraftand serves as a source'and sink of pitch momentum. Trhough'the action of the pitch control loop, the' spacecraft sensorsare continuously' maintained in alignment with the 'Local er"tical. The mome-tum coils provide fine-wheelspeed momentumControl about the spacecraft pitch axis.-more-,

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TIROS MCONFIGURATIONACTIVE THERMAL

ZONTROLLER FLAPSSEPARATIONOLAR APT. REAL-TIME

MOMENTUM FLY W}IEEL RING -PANEL CAMERAS ANTENNASOLAR , li /PROTONj A ' I\-O . ' .SOLAR -

-5* 1 MEL

AtCS~~'I t;.RA - 7~llTO,4/9' ,A C -j \ SENS.

*A. -t

RADIMETE .~DltA SuBANDv* i; V.FLAT-PLATE SLSOLAR PANELPAhEE . TERJPATRYMtNAt STUATO.R

-TH1ERMAL-Fh8CE

RADIOMETERS ;O/M)OM AND OUTRND Nill~ .'BEACON ANTFENNAAVCS ASACQU 1SITION'AYCS~. '!.AS~..' ISENSOR

SOLAR .DIGITAL S-BAND ANTENNAPANELSOLAR ASPECTPANEL INDICATOR NA5A SA 68-43712-6-67


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.43soaTh,:: 'spacecraftuesfive attitude sensors:i a digit'alsoarasec *srnso sensorsad-two.tll r osesors.. Th E DSA S is used dupinog the Ini-torer nt'a t1ioYn _me~ie; it derIves 'Its scanning, rrom .the

i. .P c r a

;Afteibhel. nltial orientation rnaneuveri; Senaingis.-ac-copli'hed bcv. tiw, nJ'It',c1onizor~ 'hd roll 'hohi~zon sensors whichviw hcErrora ,nnrwcated 6n the momentum

i-ihe: . -

a ie.-snacecT'-fft ca'xries' four' antennas: omadadbe~oianv-enna!,, two reA-1. ime antier.-nas,.and 'a-play-akS-

W -bc -!ak

bnd).-antenna The command and beacbr' antenna, a single whipu~tj _l Z 9'T1 bo4 'IC ConEna ln and the :beaqpn e~T 'metrV -Ilhri~-_ Eaah'~ -ret.l-tme 'antenna. c-onsi-st~S of two .half wave-dio.,es.ns~ta.1lad at, tbh extremity -of one of'-the~so ar~paneles.T~he- S-Band aire a~ssddol ~v~ algrud h~e,.i

aa,, , . ,ro ,d Su &'_-

.u~ .f c ae.. ., .ten .d ooeA56i.

'e,e U - aven , -

fThe ow3r converts solar energy ,nto elec"rl:alower-for d v o. all tie -e.ectrical equi i"ent.of thes a &c raf Irt 'Pomor~i s 's asolar array,'power ,qupply elec-trO~ ~s'and 'shunt'dissipa~tors..-

Oam potJo.o h

Dur-ng -the nyti. pbit, th e array sup-~plie.~ pOW03;- for thk~ s-,acj(.-e.r4ft. subsystems afid for chapr-ingt''e bateries cbargi.nft rat of th6. batteries is regulatedachage ontroe. Array power. e opacecrafreqai'enirents,, L- di_~sspipted in thre -shutd1S ats Tebatter-ies zuvqfly power 'dear:1g the rnXgh~t-tm prio f theorbit and wl~er :t..acecr'aft (earnad exceed t-ne p(?wer' e~vaiLlab le .from th e S . . ., , -'Termal Cotr ubsyste . . -

. . The, al cohntrol bs ysVsem i s composed. a ge6iietritallyvar-ab ls.I ; surfaces (thersoal fence) on th. upper Pace of'.the ;spacecr ft., var-i et,Ierittance, surfaces on both the AVCS a.id-APT e qutipmcetit a nro1 z- (Lhe val jable feature. provided by liquver-type-actlve iCn troiler;), and a fixed radiator onntl crpatce-craft h-azer.l~

- surfaces of the. spacecraft or :quipmtmodule are covored wlti h multifoilnlayerainsflslation blankets.Th. t-herma1 rf cE, Is -designed 'to absorb more sblar energy -athigher Sup, .ngle,

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Th's desig'n compensates for the reduc't-ion in spacecrat ',electrlcal.power level caused by, the increasing Sun. angle.*.,*,*,., , ...................................................................................................................SAccelebromete.r Subsyste, . ,

,

Tne accelerom ter subsystem onsis ts of twc. servo'-type.' .accelepomleters and-a contro. lunit.. I' t provi.dze5 measurements*o the g-ievels nduced fn-lhe spicecraft. during the.'Iaun' .maneuver, from" iftof , to.'spac'c rrafb/

unch sep'aratio~n. Th'es ;dat& are transmfitted to the ground. statioyi .thebeacolo Ilnk-'The accelerations are sensed'iriyonly-one '.rectlof in each, oftwo. axs.. :It is anticipated that .thed tii-te 'of- easureent,, ;may be alternate'di on s'uceeding'ITOS'spacecr ft. .

T-4.ros-M Weather Measuri'ngSensors,,he primary me'trorologi'cal senso.s include tWsVidc4cn Camera System (AVCS) nmas'for'stQrintbe. world's weather; t -woutoma'tic P6t6''ure.ATransmiofl (APT,camera for 'dratgroun&d tstai'ons; and,-t . .

scanning radiometer irared),,r'O sei~di'i"'4irec'.APT..'tctures.-as we.llas . : ati'itt.i.-or l.ay~ack' la'Ve'?, a.. ' -- .. ;t, . . ',* (-. .- .,. -5 1 '; ,'econdary meteor'ol'gica- Flnsors"'areFiat- Plate 'Radio '. -

meter (FPR)'and a .Solar Proton Moflitor -(SM). -These sensprs.'have 1'een designed to gather Earth-he'tala-ce data.and'tomeasure proton flux levels, at the satElitea-ltkude.Primary Meteordlogicai'Sensors. .

Advanced Vidicon Camera Subsystem (AVCS) ' ,

. he AVCS takes a series o~f wide-angle, high,resolution.

.telev:stn p.icturesof'the Earth-and.4fts cl~ud .cover, tore .these 'pictures on:one.-of two 3atel-et'borne- ape recorders,and, on commnandtransmits the v- e6 .signal.t'o. ground station,,,'w5icture-taking operatiiohs 'f the' AVCS' are conftrolled'iby; a .Drogram of Instructions tratnsmitPed'to 'te6:.satelliate by a'Command and Data AcqUiisi %ion dbA) sta'tion. . 2i*'complete picture seq 48' mnuts,d.riri, which ll pictures '(r frflen),are taken at intervals of ,260 st'conds and stored on t1e selectedi.tape recorder. When .'the last picture in ttie. sequence is. takenh:and recorded, the

c'inmand substystem provides a "power off" signal for:'the AVCS.

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-15-A "polier on" ommand and the picture-taking sequence lre-repeated during suciceeding orbits until the active progra;er

* -eitser reloaded or turned. off. "The,repeat time .is deter- 'mined bby-the data loaded into the programmer andnormal-ly isthe time of oile orbila1 revolut'io.'n.. Consequently, .succssaive.. rbit picture se~quenpes start- 'a-t apbroxiatei) the-same latitude.,as'-.the. first,: bu't a're disx.r'laced in longitudce by a;proximaately 285degrees 'at thie.1 xiatcr

This displacement proiduces a slight lateral overlap in. ov-erage at the quato.r., The. amount .'of lateral overlap. In-''.cieas's with increa.sing lat Ltude'.

The ,.- :a..bi , ..

The overlap .of- icces~siveiiotures$along 'the .rbital;track'is a function of.the fixed pic'ture,,aking rate and i5abput,' 0: 'percent ;,-Automatic Picture .Transmis O A.PT) ca'era Subsystem

'he.APT, camera subsystem;, like the AVCS cameza'subsystem,,.is used-to take up to 1 wjide-angle TV pictuires 'of-the Earth.and its cloud cbver'during the.daylight portion of the satel-lite orbit. However, a t aAc ddiffergnce'betweeh1 th e .APT andAVCS camera. subsystem is that the APT *subsystemalways trans-,' tts television data directly as the picturesare being tak~en

' n(i-eal time). whereas the AVCS subsystemn normally records the"TV..pibtures for i4ater playback.. . . .. . . . .. Lke the AVC3 cameras, the APT camera subsystem also has

a picture resolution-oP-twomiles. It is: contrblled by ground-' .. .tiated cormrands that.are transmitted to the sate].lite fromthe CD~A stations and are process'ed'and Etored.by.'the satellite's'commani subsystem. The program o,f-commands uirects the APTcam'era subsystem'to start taking a sequence of pictures at apredeotermined point in orbit.. . , *

A ruil APT picture sequence contains' 11 pictures'. Theyare taken' t 260-second. interval.ls. Any of. the 11 pictures maybe omitted .)y programming 'so that'.a sequence may contain 'from.one to ll pictures,,and the pictur'es taken may be located at'any desired'positions ixn.the sequence. Once thesequence is'initiated, the camera will take pitctures under satellite com-mand until the programmed, picture sequence has'been taken.''i'nese pictures are transmitted' to APT 'field stations withincorrmiunications range.of the satellite *by a transmitter in therea3-tl.me data. link.

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The sequence is repeated'automatically durIng each. Qoritof the satellite untiI the command subsystem Is turned off orpro~grammed otherwise by. a CA statin. -The 'APT camera emp].oys a htg--Ders..stencv vidicon.that.

.'providesa-600x800scan-line iage.. Use of this vidcon per-mits narrow band transmission of' the vi'deo signal which, inturn, allows the use' of relatively simple equipment at the''APT, field stations..Scanning. adiometer Subsystem

The scanning,' adioneter (SR), OI infrared subsystem,measures. emintted radiation. rom the Earth during orbit day. and*night and measures reflected radiatilon from the Earth during .daytime. ,The data. obtaited' is..transrnit'ted in 'real time toQocal user stations and is also-recorded for.later playbacktosthe CDA stations'. Daytime resolution.is 2 mi'es 'and ,4* ,milest nighttime. '

w t r

The scanning.radimeter,a meteorological instrument. built especially for use on the ITOS satellite is unique insensing two spectral re'gions and in its high spatial resolu-tion. The radiometer measures reflected radiation from tIleEarth.Inthe 0.52- to 0.73- Icron region (visible) durincrdaytime.ardeniitted radiation from the Earth'in the 10.5- to'.12.,5- micron-iregion (infrared) during day and night.

*The subsystem permlts determination of the surface tem-peratures of ground, sea,or cloud tops viewed by the radio-meter. Sr.nsitivity in the 10.5- to 12.5- m'cron'spectral re-gion'permits surface temperatures to be determined in daylight as..e~ll as at night',.since.reflected solar. radiation in thiswave-*lengthregion is small compared with.emitted radiance.. Thevisible measurement of reflected solar radia.tior, has a highercalibrati~on ac.curacy capability'than television camera systems*resently in use and is not subjectto shading which occurs in.the vidicon camera systemls.

The SR subsystem consists of. two scanning radiometers, adual SR processor and two scanning radiometer recorders (SErecorders).Each radiometer and tape recorder can be turned on oroff by commend from.a CDA station. Each haltr of the SR pro-*cessor is associated with one radiometer and is powered when"

that radiometer is powered. The radiometers are mouinted onthe satellite structure in a manner to provide them withmaximum sun shielding and to permit a scan of approximately,150 degrees without obstruction.-mor'e-

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-17-

- As the spacecraft proceeds along its orbit, t.he radiometer sc,ans'thle ,Earth.'s surface i~ronihorizon to hori'zon,-.perpendicular to the orbital plane..@ The'.radiometer scansthe Earth bt means -of a contipuopsly rotating mirror, whIc 'i 4sncliied; '45 -degrees to iVs ax-s of rotation (narallel to.* the tesl)te'5 veot 'ctor.: .

. ecoridary Envirotnmental Sensor D esSolar Po6ton Mniitor. ''. The So1ar.Prot'on-Monitor. (SPM).is designed to measurethe proton fluxes encountered in the ITOS orbit and to conr- L'vert these measurerent'. to a,f oating point binary c'ode forrecording and subsequ'eit pla;yback and'tr,:nsmission to ground ,stations. The SPM equipmeht oi,,t stellite conssts ofa-sensor'assembly, anJ.electronics''assemb, and .a'nelectrl'eal.harnesS. -

The solar proton monitor, will provide warnings 'f 'olar,o.roton storins, which are cu'rrentty used in sever'al.ways. Highaltttude users,.such as supersonic transports and mnanned space-.crart- make, provisions for-the proteestioh of.personnel on the*bas~s oXfthis- data.

Solar. proton storms affect radhlo'frequency links (VLFthrough HF), andsince.satelIIte warnings of.ten prece-de. 'donoSphericsturbances., alternate radio pathz or frequen-cies are 6ften selected in advatnce.

* The ITOS SPM data w'ill be correlated with datafromot~her ,

satellites (such as the TMP'and Fioneer). rocket probes,. with;grduhd based optical/radlo sightings.'.- The long-term goal of this data-gatgherilg and correlation ,

activity is .the, better. understanding of' th e interaction betw~een .solar.radiation'and the Earth's environmftent-by providing a-'syvstematic.mohitoring of 'the p:'ot6n fluxes' over an extendedperi.od of time, e'specially' during.the current solar cycle..Flat Plate Radiometer,

* The flat plate-radiorfte~e'r (FPR) measures the amount ofheat being radiated. into -space by the Earth a.nd is employedto 'continue the progrtAm of.mensuration of the Earth's heatbalance initiated on the TOS spacecraft piogram.

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to By knowiing, the- s la;r tPut-(belleved to be a constait)O.tothe Eatith, the a~ount~ of'heat absorbed by- tbe"artih m!ayted~etermtfed;' One of th FPE proqgram objecie ~tde termiine th6 long-term 'hea c %ags.,hus determ'tning.-.whet er 'theEarh isgtt-g warmer.o olr* . h P,-osedi a sig-enis~ of h~oneycomb .- *-

material, dndludez the four'sensors, 'electronics, and in~eaftor, ea Iibratfofi bone pirr, 'f ' ensos

The-P1, con'sists of two p~i't io ns, -ih electronics-'packa~e ar4ndthea s'ensor hed, The, head, .cPns,.s'ts of. the four~rad onet'e rst he. r~ai-ative'- equ!3Jbrfu-m',iRV,-) -co6lingmirro'rthe motor hiach -dfrives,. the ~ 1 e-m1 feedba~k :(TF), sensors,theT-F hem!2s~heres,-ald' he. sensors -toteleeter the on

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-19-* ESSAXUSE OF IMPROVED TKROS OPERATIONAL SATELLITES

The TIROS-M spacecraft is a prototype of the ImprovedTIROS Operationa' Satellilte (ITOS),'which'will become thevehicle for the Environmental Science Services Administra-tion's operati.onal weather satellite'system..willTIROS-M and the first three spacecraft in the ITCS.serieswill include the 'following sensors: 1) two Advanced Vidicon'-Camera Systems (AVCS); 2) two 'Automatic Picture Tran'smissi.on(APT) systems; 3) . two dual-channel Scanniing Radiometer systems;4) a low-resolution Flat Plate 'Radiometer; and 5) a Solar . .Proton Mcnitor.

'The new satellite combines, in one vehice,'the AutomaticPicture Transmission and.the global picture stdrage capa-bilities that require the launch of sepai~Atc- spacecraft. intjlne present operational system. Thus., fewer launcbes wil~lbe.needed to keep',the system .in operation..

As .in the current operational syste'ar, the global data f6r.'analysis by weather Aenters,.provided by the Advanced- ldicon'Camera Systems, will berecorded on magnetic tape for,trans-mission to an ESSA Comimiand and Data Acquisition station, andrelay 'to.the ESSA National Environmental Satellite Center;the APT pictures will be.transmitted directly to ground re-'ceiving'stations.The Scanning Radiometer' systems wili provide data inboth" visible and infrared channels. The infrared da-ta --the first to be availabLe on.an operational basis -- can

provide 'cloud pictures at night as'well as during the day.'.The addition of nighttime observations tp tfie operationalsysteem will extend satellite coverage of th6 Eairth's weatherto.a truly glchal basis. Because the' AVCS and APT camera .'systems phbtograph only in daylight, the existing spacecrafthave not furni hed information on areas in polar darkne's. 'With nighttime picture coverage', the entire Earth will beobserved twice each.day by both stored and direct readoutsystemS.The Scanning Radiometer data can be broadcast directlythrough the Automatic Picture Tran~srission.systein, and at

the' same time recorded simultaneously fo r lat'er readout toESSA Conmmand and Data Acqui'sicion stations. The infrared datafrom the SR system can be broadcast continuously fo r receptionby APT stations during the approximately 70-minute nighttimeportion of each orbit. Either infrared or visible data canbe broadcast continuously; in place of APT pictures, during-more-

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the L5-minutQ daylight portion of each orbit. However, t is* planned init 'allV to, transmit visible .channel radiometer datafor' 9)1' of the 102 seconds betweel. APT ploture transmissions- during the daytime portion of the orbit. The radiometer datasfi'il cover an area near the center of, the next- APT photographto be broadcast. ,.

The ihf are~d Cchannel of' the Scanning Radiometer provides'temperat;ure measuremqents at the sur'ace in clear air, or, atthe tQpS :of'clods. ,ts signals can-be fed.into 'a computerto cdnvert the cloud 'top temperatures into& loud top heightsard to prepre a map o'f cl'ud-top',topopgraphy. Satellite pincturesare frequently used' to'estimate winds, especially for regionswhere' little upper-air informa-tionlis..available, by measuringotheotinCloud in succesive.satellite pictures of;

. the':samearea. 'It' s frequeltly difficult or impossible todetermine the height of'cloud t6ps;frbom the satellite photo-:' graphs alone, and 'in these cases. the, altitude of the,,derivedwirid'is kdoubtf'l. JInf6rmRtion on the -tepmperature., and by,inference the height, of. cloud, ops wi-l eliminate thisdiffic -tY, and provide jmeteorologists with better inrormatlonon wind at various levels' of' the atmosphere...

.Ir. dditi~onfl th e 'radiometers will.ptovid6 surface'temperature readings necessary fot- computat-.:on of atmospheric ,- teipperature profiles from. soundings made by the SatelliteIrtfrared Soectrometer aboard.Nimbus'III.'

The. low-rJesolution Flat Plate .Radiometer 3ystem is'siniilar to those ihc-luded- in the ESSA, AVCS spacecraft and.willcontinue gathering data on the Earth"'s heat balance.

The.addition of the Solar Proton.Monitor in TIROS-Ma-d'the ITdS series' re.sages. the exansion of. the environ-mentalsensing capabilities planned for future.operationa'l-satel'lites'in the ESSA series. The Solar Proton Mohitbr willcount the-energetic particles encountered in orbit. Itsfuncti-on -is. o dece.dt-the arrival. of energetic solar prrotons.in the, vicinity of EarthV: Tape-recorded data will be relayedvia. 'a n ESSA Command and Data Acquisition 'station to -theNtional.Enviropmental.Satellite.Center for proctssing andcalibration'.' The inforrmatiolm will be used by ESSA's Space.Disturbances Laborattory in.Boulder, Colo., for detection andwarning', of solar- storms..

Thej ITOS spacecraft, unlike the existing operationalsatei 'l tes, i's large enough to hold additional environmentalsensors,.' Among.thos.e planned for later spacecraft are verti~caltemperature profile sounders --. similar to the SatelliteInfrared Spectrometer--- to obtain global temperature data'for use in riumeri-cal-weather prediction programs.

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. -21-7.

DELTA LAUNCH VEHICLE

The TIROS-M mission will'be. the 76th flight for the'workhorse Delta launch vehicle. Of the previous 75 lauhchiygs,70 successpfully orbited their spacecraft.'Delta is managed for NASA's Office of. pace Sc'ience.andAppllcations.by the Goddard Space Flight 'Center, GreenbeIt,Md. Launch operations are conducted by the Kennedy'.SpaceCenter's Unnanned Launch Op'eratiQnsf.' Th' McDonnell'Douglas* Corp;,, Hintingt.on'Beach, Cali. ,-


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Weight: 186,000, noundsBurning time: 3 min.: 41 sec.

:Strap-on Solids' Three Castor . and thr-eeCastor !I rocketsproduced by the Thiokol Chemrical Corp..Height: 24 feet.Diameter: 31 'inches ,Propellants: Solid - -.Weight: 9,'2O pounds (Castor-I)9,900 pounds :(Castor-II)Y-+ 'Burningime:- -40 sec. (Castor)- ,

: ' , ~39 see. (Castdr-ii) ,: ,,Second Stag3e Produced by the McDonnell Dougldis Corp. utilizingthe Aerojet General'Corp., propulsion system; major contractbrsfor the .autopilot include Minneapolis--Hbneywell, 'Inc., TexasInstruments, Inc., and Electro-solids Corp.

Height: 13 feetDiameter: 4 feet 7 inchesPropellants: Liquid, Unsymmeetrical.DimethylHydrozine (UDMH) for the fuel

and. Inhibited Red Fuming.NitridAcid (IFNA) for the oxidizer.Thrust: ,7,800 poundsWeight: 13,000 poundsBUrning.time: First burn - 6 min. 4 'sec..Second burn - 13 sec.

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TIROS-M.PROJECT TEAM

NASA HEADQUARTERSDr. John E.Naugie , Associate Administrator for Space'Science and Applicat.ionsDr.'Jodhn M..DeNoyer Director, Earth Observations ProgramsMichael L. Garbacz. Program Mahager, .OperationalMeteorological Satellites,..Joseph B. Mahon . Director, Launch Vehicle and

, xPropulsion Programs 'T..Gillam.. Delta-Program Manager,GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTERPDr. John F., Clark 'Director' .Herbert I. Butler . Chief, Operational Satellites OfficeWilli-am W. Jones' TOS (TIROS-M) Proje6ct ManagerCharles M. Hunter TOS (TIROS-M) Spacecraft ManagerRobert R. Golden , Head, FlightOperatibns.John J. Over . Head, Technical StaffWilliam Schindler . Delta Project ManagerKENNEDY SPACE CENTER,:Dr.-'Kurt H. Debts , DirectorRobert H. Gray Assistant Director for Unmanned.Launch OperationsW. C. Thacker . Delt'a Operations Manager,xWT.Henry R. Van Goey . Chief,, KSC Unmanneu Launch* Operations,.WTRINDUSTRYE. W. Bonnett Delta Project Manager,.McDonnell Douglas Corp.McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Ct.Huntington Beach, Calif.Abraham Schnapf TIROS/ESSA Project ManagerRCA-Corporatio;.Astro-Electronics DivisionPrinceton, N. J.

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-25-.' 'PRIME CONTRACTORS

COMPANY * ., RESPONSIBILITY.RCA Corporation Spacecraft Cameras- , ' :Astro-Llectronics Division , Realtime transmittersPrinceton, N. J.., Dynwsmies Systems including... momentum wheel- (Pitchicontrol'-;stibsystem') ,Command and:Control 'Sgacecraft- integratio'n'and test,,-,and launch support.McDonnell-Douglas'Corp. .. .. Delta Launch Vehic'le:..Hunti'ngton Beach, Calif.

MAJOR .SUB-CONTRACTORS" . . '. ...Santa Barbara Research .Sc anning Radiometers, -Center~Subsidiary of Hughes:Aireraft'Co.. ' . , . . rSanta.5arbara, Califf.Teledyne S-Band transmitters,Subcarrier bscillators .

,- Telemetry commut,,ators ., '-RCA Beacon'transmittersCamden, N. J.Gulton . . DC-DC'converters . /Texas Instruments Solar:cellsDall~at,,TexasGeneral Electric Co. . .Battery cells

dircYl.ld-Hiller Integrated CircIlits ' .. ,UlniJersity of Wisconsin Flat Plate Radiometer' (FPR)Johtis 'lopkins University Solar Proton MonitorApplied Physics. LaboratoryBaltimore

Documents

Tiros-m Press Kit