11060 - TIROS N

TIROS-N was an operational meteorological satellite for use in the National Operational Environmental Satellite System (NOESS) and for the support of the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) during 1978-84.

The satellite design provided an economical and stable sun-synchronous platform for advanced operational instruments to measure the earth's atmosphere, its surface and cloudcover, and the near-space environment. Primary sensors included an advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) for observing daytime and nighttime global cloud cover, and a TIROS operational vertical sounder (TOVS) for obtaining temperature and water-vapor profiles through the earth's atmosphere. Secondary experiments consisted of a space environment monitor (SEM), which measured the proton and electron fluxes near the earth, and a data collection system (DCS), which processed and relayed to central data acquisition stations the various meteorological data received from free-floating balloons and ocean buoys distributed around the globe.

The satellite was based upon the Block 5D spacecraft bus developed for the U.S. Air Force, and it was capable of maintaining an earth-pointing accuracy of better than plus or minus 0.1 deg with a motion rate of less than 0.035 deg/s.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 1978-10-13
Launch Vehicle: Atlas F
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Mass: 588.9 kg