N EWS R ELEASE

- NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

400 MARYLAND AVENUE, SW, WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
TELEPHONES: WORTH 2-4155-WORTH 3-1110

FOR RELEASE: Sunday AM's

February 4, 1962
Release No. 62-24
FOURTH

TIROS
METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE

(TELEVISION INFRA-RED OBSERVATION SATELLITE)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will

soon attempt to launch and place into orbit the fourth of a
series of seven programmed Tiros meteorological satellites. The
primary purposes -will be to further the research on and develop-
ment of meteorological satellites, and to obtain data for
operational use in weather forecasting.
The continuing research and development activities in
Project Tiros are designed to achieve the following:
1. Provide the meteorologist with the data which will
increase his understanding of the atmosphere and
his ability to predict weather events;
2. Develop the basic principles leading toward an
operating meteorological satellite system;
3. Insure the progressive improvement of meteorological
sensors, spacecraft, and satellite systems through
a continuing flight program.
With the exception of one television camera lens system
the satellite will perform much like the previous Tiros satel-
lites. If successfully launched, it will circle the earth
about every 99 minutes at an approximate altitude of 400 miles.
A camera lens different from any previously used in Tiros
satellites has been installed in one of the camera systems for
the purpose of reducing distortion and providing somewhat better
resolution in the picture image while preserving relatively
large coverage.
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From an altitude of 475 miles, this lens will cover an

area about 450 miles on a side when the camera is pointing
straight downward.
The second camera will have a lens identical to the wide
angle cameras used in Tiros Is II and III. This lens covers
an area about 750 miles on a side from an altitude of 475 miles
when the camera is pointed straight down.
The use of the narrow angle lens carried on Tiros I and II
was discontinued since more valuable data to the meteorologist
was obtained with the wide angle lenses.
As in Tiros I, II and III, the satellite carries two
magnetic tape recorders each of which can store up to thirty-
two successive pictures for transmission earthward when the
satellite is within the 1500-mile command range of one of the
two ground stations.
Other instrumentation includes remote control electronics,
electronic clocks for triggering the cameras when away from
the ground stations, beacon transmitters, horizon scanners,
telemetry circuits and a magnetic orientation control system.
Nearly identical infra-red experiments to those in Tiros II
and III also will be carried by the satellite. These are .used f)
in measuring the sun-earth heat-balance radiation relationships.
Power for the operation of the electronic equipment is
furnished by nickel-cadmium storage batteries charged by more
than 9,000 solar cells which are mounted. on the top and sides'
of the spacecraft. I

The satellite will be boosted into orbit by a three-stage

Delta rocket developed by NASA.
NASAts Goddard Space Flight Center at Greenbelt, Maryland
has responsibility for overall technical direction of the
satellite, including tracking, command, data acquisition,
and the infra-red radiation experiment. The Office of
Meteorological Satellite Activities of the U. S. Weather
Bureau is responsible for coordinating the operational use of
the cloud picture data, and for their research use. Other
U.S. weather services participate in both operational and
research use.

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FACT SHEET
THE TIROS SATELLITE

GENERAL:
The satellite was designed to obtain television pictures
of cloud formations and infra-red radiation measurements of
atmospheric heat balance over much of the world, and to trans-
mit the data from these experiments to ground stations for
analysis and operational and research use.
Weight: 285 pounds
Shape
Dimensions:Cylindrical, resembling a large hat box,
42 inches in diameter, 19 inches high.
Launch: From Atlantic Missile Range, Cape Canaveral1
Florida on a three stage Thor Delta vehicle.
Orbit: Approximately 400 miles altitude at an in-
clination of about 48 degrees from the Equator
at speeds approaching 17,000 miles per hour.

OPERATION:
Power: 9,260 solar cells provide electrical energy to
63 nickel cadmium storage batteries.

Transmitters: Five transmitters relay data from the

satellite to ground stations.
a. Each of the two television camera systems
has a two watt transmitter operating on
235 megacycles.
b. One two-watt 237.8 megacycle transmitter
relays infra-red experiments data.
c. Two tracking beacons operating continuaously
on frequencies of 136.23 me and 136.92 me are
used to relay satellite telemetry data such
as temperature, pressure and battery charge
level.

Television System: The TV cameras use a one-half inch

Vidicon tube especially designed for satellite,
use. The cameras are aligned parallel to the
satellite!s spin axis and extend through the space-.
craft. baoeplate. Each camera consists of' a Vidicon
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tube and a focal plane shutter which permits -
still pictures to be temporarily stored on
tube face plate. An electron beam converts
this stored picture into a TV type electronic
signal which can be transmitted to ground
stations or stored on a magnetic tape recorder.
In each camera system there is a magnetic
tape recorder and electronic clock or timer.
Over remote parts of the earth each recorder
can store up to thirty-two pictures on the
magnetic tape for later relay -- this can be
done by programming the timer as much as five
hours in advance. When the satellite is with-
in ground station range the photograph signals
are "read out" and the tape is erased and re-
wound for the next recording. When the satel-
lite is within range of the ground station, the
recorder can be bypassed so that pictures can
be directly transmitted. Read outs are there-
fore referred to as being either direct or
remote.
The recording tape is 400 feet long and
moves fifty inches per second during playback
and recording. Photographs are transmitted
from one camera at a time and complete read
out from both cameras takes about three minutes.
Horizon Sensor:
An infra-red sensor mounted on the rim of
the satellite can sense when its field of view
crosses the Earth's horizon. This information
is relayed to the ground stations via the
tracking beacon and assists in determing the
satellite's attitude in space.
North Indicator:
Around the sides of the satellite are nine
equally positioned solar cells which generate
coded impulses which are used to measure the
position of the satellite with respect to the
Sun. These data are transmitted with the TV
transmission to the ground stations where they
are processed by a sun-angle computer to show
which direction is North in each photograph.

all%
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Magnetic Orientation Control:

A wire coil around the exterior lower side
of the satellite generates a controllable magnetic
field around the satellite. When this magnetic
field interacts with that of the earth, the coil
provides a means for very gradually tilting the
satellite on command to obtain an advantageous
angle for the sensors and the solar power supply.

Controls:
When the payload is separated from the third
stage it will be spinning at about 126 r.p.m.
About ten minutes after separation a timer will
release 'a desnJn mechanism to slow the rotational
speed to about 12 r.p.m. This mechanism con-
sists of two weights attached to cables wound
around the satellite. As the weights unwind, they
slow the rate of spin and when completely unwound,
drop off automatically.
Tiros must maintain a spin rate of at least
9 r.p.m. to remain stable in orbit. When this
minimum is approached a pair of small solid fuel
rockets are fired which increases the speed to
about 13 r.p.m. There are five pairs of these
spin-up rockets and each pair can be fired only
once.
The satellite has an internal arrangement of
sliding weights to cancel any wobbling motion.
INFRARED RADIATION EXPERIMENTS:

The satellite will carry three radiation experiments

essentially the same as those in Tiros III. The purpose of
these experiments is to learn how much solar energy is ab-
sorbed and reflected, and how much infra-red radiation is
emitted, by the earth and its atmosphere and to develop a
means of determining the nighttime idoud cover of the earth.
The scanning experiment includes mapping of reflected
solar radiation, temperature of the earth'i surface or of
cloud tops, and temperature of an atmosph ?ic level varying
with the amount of water vapor but at an average altitude of
about 25,000 feet.
-One non-scanning experiment will provide gross heat
budget information by measuring reflected solar radiation
and emitted long wave radiation from the earth and atmosphere.
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The second non-scanning experiment designed by the

University of Wisconsin, will also measure the gross heat
budget but the data although of lower resolution will be more
continuous since the sensors can view the earth almost all
the time.

Data from the infrared experiments are recorded continu-

ously on magnetic tape for playback of the last orbit's data
on command from one of the ground stations.
GROUND STATIONS:

There are two primary command data readout stations.

One, operated under a service contract with RCA, is located
at NASA's Wallops Station, Wallops Island, Virginia. The
other, operated by the Navy, is located at the Pacific Missile
Range, California. A backup station is maintained at RCA's
facility in Princeton, N.J.
At the ground stations, cloud cover pictures will be
displayed in kinescopes and photographed by 35 mm cameras.
In addition, both photo and infrared data will be recorded
on magnetic tapes. Weather Bureau teams at both primary
stations will analyze the most immediately useful photographic
data for real time operational use.
The infra-red tapes will bemsent to NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center for processing and analysis.

LAUNCH VEHICLE

The Delta vehicle used to launch Tiros III has these

characteristics:
Height: 90 feet
Max. Diameter: 8 feet
Lift-off Weight: A little less than 112,000 pounds
First Stage (Modified Douglas Thor):
Fuel: Liquid (LOX and Kerosene)
Thrust: About 150,000 pounds
Burning Time: 160 seconds

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Second State (Aerojet General):
Fuel: Liquid

Thrust: About 7,500 pounds

Burning Time: 109 seconds

Third Stage (Allegany Ballistics Laboratory X-248):

Fuel: Solid
Thrust: About 3,000 pounds

Burning Time: 40 seconds (After 7 minute coast)

Firing Sequence:
The first stage falls away on burnout. The second stage
ignites immediately. The nuae fairing which covers third
stage and payload is jettisoned after twenty seconds of second
stage burning. The third stage doesn't ignite until seven
minutes of coasting after second stage burnout. Then, the
third stage is spin stablized and the second stage falls away.
The third stage reaches an orbital velocity of almost 17,000
miles per hour.

TIROS PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

The overall responsibility for the project rests with

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The
development and operational phase of the project is under the
direction of NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center. Goddard will
prepare the command programming which the ground stations will
relay to the satellite. These programs will be based on in-
formation from NASA's Computing Center and recommendation of
the Meteorological Satellite Activities unit of the U. S.
Weather Bureau. The radiation experiments were designed and
the data storage and telemetry equipment associated with them
were constructed by Goddard.
With the exception of the infra-red experiments, the
satellite was designed and constructed by the Astro-Electronics
Division of RCA, Princeton, New Jersey, under contract to NASA.
In addition, RCA was responsible for the special ground station
equipment. Barnes. Engineering Company, Stamford,.Connecticut,
under NASA oontraet,;provided radiation detectors. The Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, designed one of the IR experiments.
 Douglas Aircraft Company is prime contractor for the |)
Delta launch vehicle. In addition, it is responsible for
launching services, supported by the Air Force Missile Test
Center which operates the Atlantic Missile Range.
The Meteorological Satellite Activities unit of the U. S.
Weather Bureau is responsible for meteorological analysis and
interpretation of the picture and radiation data. Cooperating
in this phase of the project are the U.S. Navy Photographic
Interpretation Center, the Geophysics Research Directorate of
the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, the Air Force
Air Weather Service, the Navy Weather Service and university
research groups.
Officials concerned with the TIROS experiment include:
Dr. Morris Tepper, Director of Meteorological Systems,
NASA Headquarters.
Mr. William G. Stroud, Chief of the Aeronomy and Meteo-
rology Division at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Mr. Herbert I. Butler, Associate Chief for Projects,
Aeronomy and Meteorology Division at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Mr. Robert M. Rados, Tiros Project Manager, NASA's Goddard )
Space Flight Center.
Mr. Abraham Schnapf, Project Manager for RCA's Astro-
Electronics Division..
Mr. Davrid Johnson, Acting Director of the Weather Bureau's
.Meteorological Satellite Activities.

TIROS I, II & III

SUMMARY
Tiros I was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 1,
1960. Between launch and June 17, 1960 when operations ceased,
the satellite transmitted nearly 23,000 photographs of cloud
cover. Despite its relatively brief useful lifetime of 78 days,
meteorologists hailed Tiros I experiment as opening a new era
in weather observation.
Tiros II was launched November 23, 1960, It far exceeded
its estimated useful lifetime of three months and continued
to provide data through November of 1961. Beyond this achieve-
ment, in January 1961 the satellite photographed the tightly
packed ice in the St. Lawrence and in March took rAotographs ( )
for several days which showed the breakup of the L- pack.
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These ice pack photographs were the first and best indications
that weather satellites could be used to photograph and show
ice boundaries and open seas. Tiros II was also used in j
aiding forecasters on weather conditions for the suborbital
flight of Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. last May and the
launch of Ranger I in July.
Tiros III was launched July 12, 1961 and like the two
previous Tiros launches it was a perfect operation. The satel-
lite further substantiated the feasibility of operational
weather satellites by again proving the data could be used on
a real-time basis for daily weather analysis. It marked the
first time a weather satellite was relied upon as the sole
source of information for the basis of a tropical storm fore-
cast. By July 20 Tiros III was providing operational data
on Hurricane Anna and it subsequently photographed Hurricane
Esther two days prior to conventional methods which resulted
in additional warning time. Operational utilization of the
satellite data was discontinued in late November of 1961 due
to loss of adequate contrast in the picture.

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