Tiros-1

Instruments and equipment of the TIROS I.

TIROS I (or TIROS-1) was the first successful weather satellite, and the first of a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites. It was launched at 6:40 AM EST1 on April 1, 1960 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the United States.

TIROS I was designed to test experimental techniques for taking television footage of weather patterns from an almost circular orbit, at an altitude ranging from 435.5 miles (700.9 km) to 468.28 miles (753.62 km).1 Though operational for only 78 days (15 days fewer than planned1), it was vastly more successful than Vanguard 2 in demonstrating that satellites were useful for surveying atmospheric conditions from space and in sending back 22,952 images.2

TIROS I was 19 inches (0.48 m) tall and 42 inches (1.1 m) in diameter.1 Two television cameras were housed in the 270 pounds (120 kg) craft, along with two magnetic tape recorders which could be used to store photographs when the satellite was out of communications range. Power was supplied by onboard batteries, charged by 9200 solar cells.

First photo transmitted by TIROS I from space.
TIROS I image of a cyclone.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "U.S. Launches Camera Weather Satellite", The Fresno Bee, AP and UPI (April 1, 1960), pp. 1a, 4a. 
  2. ^ Small Satellites: 1960-1969 from the Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd website

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